The final demand producer price index in Australia increased by 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to December of 2018, slowing markedly from a 0.8 percent rise in the previous period and slightly below market consensus of 0.6 percent. Still, it marked the 11th straight quarter of rise in producer prices, mainly driven by prices received for heavy and civil engineering construction (1 percent); building construction (0.4 percent) and accommodation (3.8 percent). Partly offsetting the rise was falls in prices received for petroleum refining and petroleum fuel manufacturing (-10.6 percent) and bakery product manufacturing (-2.7 percent). Through the year to the fourth quarter, producer prices rose 2 percent. Producer Prices in Australia averaged 91.54 Index Points from 1998 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 110.80 Index Points in the fourth quarter of 2018 and a record low of 70.70 Index Points in the first quarter of 1999.
Producer Prices in Australia is expected to be 110.95 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Producer Prices in Australia to stand at 112.06 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Australia Producer Prices is projected to trend around 116.36 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.