CANBERRA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australia's annual rate of inflation rose slightly in the year to November, new official figures have revealed.

According to the new data, which was published on Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index (CPI) -- the headline measure of inflation -- rose by 2.3 percent in the 12 months to November 2024.

It marks a slight acceleration from the 2.1 percent CPI increase reported in the year to October 2024.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics identified spending on food and drink, alcohol and tobacco and recreation as the major drivers of inflation over the 12 months to November.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 2.9 percent, alcohol and tobacco prices by 6.7 percent and recreation and culture prices by 3.2 percent in that period.

Those increases were partially offset by a 21.5 percent fall in electricity prices and a 10.2 percent drop in automotive fuel prices.

The underlying inflation rate, which excludes the most volatile price changes, fell from 3.5 percent in October to 3.2 percent in November.

Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), has a target band for inflation of 2-3 percent.

Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that headline inflation has now been within the RBA's target band for four consecutive months. Enditem

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