COMMENT: For superannuitants, the cost of living rose 1.2 per cent in the September quarter. That was more than the increase for any of the 12 other subsets of households for which the statisticians compile living cost indices.
For consumers generally, the main driver of inflation in the latest quarter was petrol prices. But for the 390,000 superannuitant households it was the annual increase in local body rates, which averaged 5.6 per cent.
Another big ticket item for those households, insurance, has risen 6.9 per cent over the past year.
Rates and insurance each represent 7.6 per cent of an average superannuitant household's expenditure, whereas petrol is 3.7 per cent. For all households, rates account for 4.1 per cent of spending and insurance 5.6 per cent.
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