In mid-May, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will hand down his third and most significant budget. In the latest instalment of Crikey’s Paint by Numbers series, we break down the key figures illustrating the staggering rise in the cost of living over the past four years.
Australians with a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt: 2.95 million
Average student debt in 1990: $10,400
Average student debt in 2023: $26,494
Total outstanding HECS/HELP debt in 2005: $12.4 billion
Total outstanding HECS/HELP debt in 2023: $78 billion
Increase, in real terms, between the average HECS/HELP debt held by an Australian in their 20s since 2006: $11,217
Amount the average student debt will increase on June 1, 2024: $1,272
Amount the average student debt increased on June 1, 2023: $1,700
Increase in childcare fees (for centre-based day care and outside school hours care) between 2019 and 2023: 20%*
Increase in childcare fees (for in-home care) between 2019 and 2023: 32%*
Interest rate hikes since May 2022: 13
Increase in the number of households at risk of mortgage stress since May 2022: 720,000
Homeowners at risk of mortgage stress as of January 2024: 1.609 million
Increase in price of food and non-alcoholic beverages from March 2023 to March 2024: 3.8%
Increase in the price of bread and cereals from March 2023 to March 2024: 7.2%
Total increase in average price for sliced white bread in Sydney from August 2019 to February 2024: 41%
Increase in the food consumer price index (CPI) between 2003-2013: 2.9%
Increase in the food CPI between 2013-2023: 2.6%
Increase of the food CPI between 2021-23: 6.6%
Coles profits 2022-23: $1.1 billion
Woolworths profits 2022-23: $1.62 billion
Average retail petrol price 2015: 129.6 cpl
Average retail petrol price 2019: 142 cpl
Average retail petrol price 2023: 189.8 cpl
Median weekly rent as of August 2020: $437
Median weekly rent as of January 2024: $601
National rent increases in 2023: 8.3%
Highest rent increase in 2023: Perth, 13.4%
Average annual growth rate of rent in the 2010s: 2.0%
Average growth rate of rent in the last three years: 9.1%
*The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that government subsidies slowed the rate of increase for actual out-of-pocket expenses. After subsidies, out-of-pocket expenses increased by 7% for households using centre-based day-care services during the past four years, 12% for households using outside-school-hours care and 15.8% for households using family daycare.
