How has the spending basket changed?
Two views of the CPI basket: compare recent weights, then explore the categories and weights used in earlier decades.
How has the CPI basket changed recently?
Compare the weights of the 11 modern spending categories in different published editions. A weight of 17% means the category accounts for $17 of every $100 of spending represented in the CPI basket; it does not mean prices rose by 17%.
Selections automatically stay in date order, with the earlier basket first.
The latest edition is the 2025 weighting pattern, with December 2024 as its reference period. Changes in weights can reflect changing purchases, relative prices and updated methods. These shares reflect spending across households covered by the CPI; individual budgets differ. Only published editions are compared, with no figures filled in between them.
Compare spending baskets through the years
Explore the categories and spending shares in 17 published baskets from 1948 to 2017. Choose two baskets to view together. The earlier basket always appears first. Open the arrows to see what each category includes.
Categories and coverage changed over time. Similar names do not always cover the same spending.
About this basket
About this basket
Every percentage is a share of the whole basket, including the smaller categories shown when you expand a group. Parent and child shares overlap, so do not add them together. These are published snapshots, with no figures filled in between them.
Sources and category names
ABS, Consumer Price Index, Historical Weighting Patterns, 1948–2017, tables 1–17. The ABS calls each basket version a “series”. The first two source tables do not specify introduction quarters; their years follow the ABS historical account. Original categories and weights are retained, with repeated source rows shown once. These baskets are not joined into a continuous series with the recent weights above. About & sources →
In ABS category names, n.e.c. means not elsewhere classified — items not separately listed under a more specific category.