Over a third (38 per cent) of all businesses expect to increase the price of their goods or services over the next three months by more than usual, a similar result to March 2022, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, said: "Most of these businesses were finding that increases in the cost of products and services (92 per cent) and fuel and / or energy costs (78 per cent) were leading factors for planned price increases."
The survey results also showed nearly half (48 per cent) of all businesses have no plans to increase their prices over the next three months.
"Of these businesses, nearly half (46 per cent) said it was to retain customers and 46 per cent said they had fixed-price contracts in place." Mr Shepherd said.
Description
Factors contributing to price increases(b)(c)
92% Cost of products or services
78% Cost of fuel and / or energy
50% Other business overheads
38% Staff costs(e)
37% Customer demand
25% Cost of finance (interest rates)
25% Cost of finance (interest rates)
48% of businesses expect their prices will not increase over the next three months
Reasons for not increasing prices(b)(d)
46% To retain customers
46% Fixed-price contracts
39% Not practical to change prices e.g. due to advertising
23% Business turnover increasing in line with costs
(a) Proportions are of all businesses.
(b) Businesses could select more than one response.
(c) Proportions are of businesses that expect their prices to increase over the next three months.
(d) Proportions are of businesses that expect their prices will remain unchanged or decrease over the next three months.
(e) Includes staff wages or salaries, overtime, or other staff related costs.
The results also provided information about planned capital expenditure over the next three months. Almost one in five businesses (18 per cent) have planned capital expenditure in May 2022, consistent with findings in May 2021 (17 per cent).
Nearly half (48 per cent) of businesses planning capital expenditure indicated it would be higher than what is usual for this time of year, fewer than a year ago when 59 per cent planned for higher expenditure.
The biggest Influencing factors on whether businesses were planning for capital expenditure were uncertainty about the future state of the economy (25 per cent) and supply chain disruptions (23 per cent).
Data referred to in this release was collected 11 to 18 May.
