Canberra, Jan 8 (IANS): Australia’s annual rate of inflation rose slightly in the year to November, new official figures have revealed.

According to the new data, which was published on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index (CPI) — the headline measure of inflation — rose by 2.3 per cent in the 12 months to November 2024.

It marks a slight acceleration from the 2.1 per cent CPI increase reported in the year to October 2024.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics identified spending on food and drink, alcohol and tobacco and recreation as the major drivers of inflation over the 12 months to November.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 2.9 per cent, alcohol and tobacco prices by 6.7 per cent and recreation and culture prices by 3.2 per cent in that period.

Those increases were partially offset by a 21.5 per cent fall in electricity prices and a 10.2 per cent drop in automotive fuel prices.

The underlying inflation rate, which excludes the most volatile price changes, fell from 3.5 per cent in October to 3.2 per cent in November.

Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), has a target band for inflation of 2-3 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that headline inflation has now been within the RBA’s target band for four consecutive months.

In November, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had declared that the worst of the country’s inflation crisis is over.

Albanese had said that the Australians have reason for optimism with new data showing inflation is at its lowest level over three years.

According to official figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the last week of October 2024, the CPI rose by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2024, spanning from the start of July through the end of September.

It marked the lowest quarterly CPI increase since the three-month period ending in June 2020.

“I know workers, families, and small businesses have all done it hard, but while there are still challenges to meet, still problems to solve, still people under pressure who need our help, when we look at the economy today, we can see new reasons for optimism and new proof the worst is behind us,” said Albanese at an event on November 3.

“Together, we have faced a global storm, and we have navigated it the Australian way,” he mentioned.

The CPI rose by 2.8 per cent in the 12-month period to the end of September, the lowest annual figure at the end of a quarter since March 2021.

Australia’s annual rate of inflation peaked at a 32-year high of 7.8 per cent in the 12 months ending in December 2022.