Australia's import prices rose by 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June 2019, following a 0.5 percent fall in the prior quarter but missing market consensus of a 1.8 percent rise. Main contributors to the increase were petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (6.1 percent), due to a decrease in global supply, and other transport equipment (7.1 percent), reflecting increases in transport and supply costs. Meanwhile, prices fell for telecommunications and sound-recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (-1.4 percent) due to discounting on smart phones, and inorganic chemicals (-10.9 percent) driven by lower global demand for caustic soda. Through the year to the June quarter, import prices advanced 2.8 percent. Import Prices in Australia averaged 93.27 Index Points from 1981 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 116.30 Index Points in the second quarter of 2001 and a record low of 51.50 Index Points in the third quarter of 1981.
Import Prices in Australia is expected to be 114.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Import Prices in Australia to stand at 116.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Australia Import Prices is projected to trend around 110.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.