Transport Affordability Index
March Quarter 2024

Transport costs rise 10% in 12 months

In the March quarter the typical Australian household’s transport costs rose by 4.5 per cent (3.9 per cent for the typical capital city household and 5.3 per cent for the typical regional household).

This was almost four times the quarter’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise of 1.0 per cent.

The report also shows that in the 12 months to 31 March, typical Australian household transport costs rose by 10 per cent, which was 2.8 times higher than the same period’s CPI increase of 3.6 per cent.

In the 12 months to 31 March transport expenditure rose by 9.3 per cent for the typical capital city household and 11 per cent for the typical regional household.

In the March 2023 quarter, the typical capital city household spent 16.4 per cent of its income on transport, but in the March 2024 quarter this had risen to 17.3 per cent. Over the same period, the typical regional benchmark household’s transport expenditure rose from 15.1 per cent of its income to 16.3 per cent.

The overall rise in transport costs was largely driven by higher up-front costs for purchasing new vehicles. In 2023, some popular vehicle models’ prices increased, and some small and mid-sized vehicles were displaced from the 10 top-selling models by larger, more expensive vehicles.