Canberra workers among the few to beat inflation
The ABS Wage Price Index measures changes in wage rates for a fixed basket of jobs, unaffected by changes in employment composition, hours worked or employee characteristics.
In addition to a national figure, the ABS breaks down wage changes by state and territory and by industry sector.
To calculate industry-based real wage changes between June 2022 and June 2026, the wage indexes are deflated by national quarterly CPI, while state indexes are deflated by the corresponding capital-city CPI.
The results are striking.
Only workers in two of Australia's 18 industries are ahead of inflation. Electricity, gas, water and waste services recorded a 0.89% real wage gain, while Health care and social assistance managed just 0.23%.
At the other end, wages in Financial and insurance services are 3.27% lower in real terms, followed by Professional, scientific and technical services at -2.55%.
The geographical picture is similarly weak. Only the ACT (+0.68%) and Tasmania (+0.35%) recorded positive real wage growth using local capital-city inflation. South Australia performed worst at -2.63%, followed by New South Wales at -2.37%.
Critics would argue that the Commonwealth helped create the inflation problem. Yet capital city workers in Canberra are among the very few who have largely escaped its real-wage consequences.
| Real wage growth by industry | |||||
| June quarter 2022 to June quarter 2026. WPI deflated by national quarterly CPI. Navy = real wage gain; orange = real wage loss. Bar scale: -4% to +4%. | |||||
| Industry | Real wage growth |
Loss ← 0 → Gain | |||
| Electricity, gas, water & waste services | +0.89% |
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| Health care & social assistance | +0.23% |
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| Mining | -0.79% | ||||
| Manufacturing | -1.04% | ||||
| Transport, postal & warehousing | -1.40% | ||||
| Construction | -1.57% | ||||
| Wholesale trade | -1.61% | ||||
| Public administration & safety | -1.65% | ||||
| Administrative & support services | -1.70% | ||||
| Information media & telecommunications | -1.74% | ||||
| Arts & recreation services | -1.76% | ||||
| Education & training | -1.77% | ||||
| Retail trade | -1.87% | ||||
| Other services | -1.88% | ||||
| Accommodation & food services | -1.92% | ||||
| Rental, hiring & real estate services | -2.07% | ||||
| Professional, scientific & technical services | -2.55% | ||||
| Financial & insurance services | -3.27% | ||||
| All industries | -1.49% | National benchmark | |||
| Real wage growth by state and territory | |||||
| June quarter 2022 to June quarter 2026. State WPI deflated by corresponding capital-city quarterly CPI. Navy = real wage gain; orange = real wage loss. Bar scale: -4% to +4%. | |||||
| State / territory | Real wage growth |
Loss ← 0 → Gain | |||
| Australian Capital Territory | +0.68% | ||||
| Tasmania | +0.35% | ||||
| Northern Territory | -0.48% | ||||
| Queensland | -0.87% | ||||
| Western Australia | -0.89% | ||||
| Victoria | -1.31% | ||||
| New South Wales | -2.37% | ||||
| South Australia | -2.63% | ||||
| Australia | -1.49% | National benchmark | |||