Australia · data to Jun qtr 2026
Is pay keeping up?
Bad.
Prices are rising faster than pay (-0.7% a year), so most workers are going backwards.
For context: -0.7% is lower than 85% of all 112 figures since 1998.
Pay growth minus inflation
Above zero means pay is rising faster than prices
The strip under the chart shows the verdict each period would get by today's rules:Good Mixed Bad
See the latest numbers
| Period | Value | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Jun qtr 2026 | -0.7% | Bad |
| Mar qtr 2026 | -0.9% | Bad |
| Dec qtr 2025 | -0.2% | Bad |
| Sep qtr 2025 | 0.1% | Mixed |
| Jun qtr 2025 | 1.3% | Good |
| Mar qtr 2025 | 1.1% | Good |
| Dec qtr 2024 | 0.8% | Mixed |
| Sep qtr 2024 | 0.7% | Mixed |
| Jun qtr 2024 | 0.3% | Mixed |
| Mar qtr 2024 | 0.4% | Mixed |
| Dec qtr 2023 | 0.2% | Mixed |
| Sep qtr 2023 | -1.3% | Bad |
Source: ABS, Wage Price Index minus Consumer Price Index, annual % change · Series ABS WPI 3.THRPEB.7.TOT.20.AUS.Q minus CPI (RBA GCPIAGYP, then ABS monthly CPI averaged by quarter) · Latest Jun qtr 2026
How we judged this
What we test: The latest figure (pay growth minus inflation). Right now that's -0.7%.
- Good if 1.0% or more
- Mixed if from 0.0% to under 1.0%
- Bad if anything the rules above don’t coverapplies now
Rules are checked from the top. The first one that fits decides the verdict.
About this data
- Measure
- Pay growth minus inflation
- Latest
- -0.7% (Jun qtr 2026)
- Published
- Quarterly, by ABS
- Verdict counts for
- Equal weight with the others in the overall verdict
Calculated as annual Wage Price Index growth minus annual inflation for the same quarter.
Inflation uses the quarterly CPI where it exists, and the average of the three monthly CPI readings in the quarter after that.