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Electricity prices in Australia: 13.2% higher than a year earlier in August 2026

Electricity prices in August 2026 were 13.2% higher than 12 months before, up from a 6.1% annual rise in July and well above overall inflation of 4%.

Published 2 min read

  • 2026-076.1%
  • 2026-0813.2%
Australia electricity price inflation (12-month change) · Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australia Electricity price inflation →

What happened

If you pay a power bill, the price of electricity is now noticeably higher than it was a year ago. In August 2026, electricity prices were 13.2% above their level 12 months earlier.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

One month before, in July 2026, the same 12-month measure stood at 6.1%. The annual rate therefore more than doubled in a single month.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What the official figures show

The 13.2% figure is a 12-month change. It compares August 2026 prices with August of the year before. It does not mean prices rose by 13.2% within August alone.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

The jump from July to August in that annual rate was 7.1 percentage points. This is a change in the rate itself, measured in percentage points, not a percentage rise in prices over the month.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

How electricity compares with other prices

Electricity is rising much faster than prices in general. Overall consumer price inflation was 4% over the 12 months to August 2026.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

Other everyday costs also rose more slowly over the same 12 months. Food prices were up 3% and rents were up 3.6%. All of these are 12-month changes for August 2026, so they can be read side by side.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

What it means for households in Australia

For a typical household, power is one of the fastest-rising items in the cost of living right now. Electricity prices rose 13.2% over the year, compared with 4% for prices overall.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

Households that spend a larger share of their budget on electricity will feel this more than the headline inflation figure suggests. Rent and food, two other large costs, rose by 3.6% and 3% over the same period.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

The figures do not tell you how much any individual bill has changed. That depends on your plan, your usage and where you live.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

What the data does and does not show

The figures do not explain why electricity prices rose so sharply between July and August. They show the size of the change, not its cause.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

There is no breakdown by state, retailer or household type in this data. There are also no dollar amounts, so the figures cannot say how much more an average bill costs.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

This is one month of data. A single month cannot show whether the higher annual rate will last.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

Scenarios to watch

  • Scenario, not a forecast If the August jump reflects a one-off change in prices, the 12-month rate could stay high for most of a year and then ease once that month drops out of the comparison.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If electricity prices keep rising month after month, the annual rate could climb further and keep pulling overall inflation upwards.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If electricity prices fall back in coming months, the annual rate would ease sooner and the gap with overall inflation would narrow.

What to check next

  • The next monthly electricity price figure, to see whether the 12-month rate stays near 13.2% or moves away from it
  • Overall consumer price inflation for the following month, to see how much electricity is affecting the headline figure
  • Any official explanation of what drove the change between July and August 2026
  • Your own electricity bill and plan details, to compare your costs with the national figures

Verified data used in this report

IndicatorValuePeriodSourcesAccessed
F1Australia electricity price inflation (12-month change)13.2%2026-08Australian Bureau of Statistics
F2Australia electricity price inflation (12-month change)6.1%2026-07Australian Bureau of Statistics
F3Change from previous period (percentage points)7.1pp2026-08Australian Bureau of Statistics
C1Australia consumer price inflation (12-month change)4%2026-08Australian Bureau of Statistics
C3Australia food price inflation (12-month change)3%2026-08Australian Bureau of Statistics
C4Australia rent prices (CPI, 12-month change)3.6%2026-08Australian Bureau of Statistics
C5Australia unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)4.72%2026-09Australian Bureau of Statistics
C6Australia GDP growth (annual %)1.35%2025World Bank
C7Australia Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate)4.09%2025World Bank
C8Australia Fertility rate, total (births per woman)1.482024World Bank
C9Australia Population aged 65 and above (% of total population)18.09%2025World Bank
C10Australia Population growth (annual %)1.53%2025World Bank

Sources

  • Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (CC BY 4.0) — license
  • Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) — license

How this report was checked

  • Data: the newest reference period cited is 2026-09.
  • Figures were collected from the source on
  • Written by an AI model (claude-opus-5-5) using only the official figures listed in this report.
  • Automatic checks passed: every number matches a cited figure, every paragraph names its evidence, and there is no investment advice or copied source text.
  • A separate quality-check model raised concerns that were recorded but not fully resolved.
  • No person reviewed this report before publication. Automatic checks confirm the numbers, not every interpretation.
Update history
  • 2026-10-27 10:00 UTC — created
  • 2026-10-27 10:00 UTC — approved+published

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