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Aussie households spent $368 a week on transport after petrol price surge

  • May 09 2022
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Aussie households spent $368 a week on transport after petrol price surge

By Jon Bragg
May 09 2022

Fuel costs have increased by 40 per cent over the past year, a new report from the Australian Automobile Association has revealed.

Aussie households spent $368 a week on transport after petrol price surge

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  • May 09 2022
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Fuel costs have increased by 40 per cent over the past year, a new report from the Australian Automobile Association has revealed.

Aussie households spent $368 a week on transport after petrol price surge

The average Aussie household spent a total of $368.21 per week on transport costs during the March quarter, including $95.17 on fuel costs.

The latest Transport Affordability Index from the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) also indicated that transport costs accounted for 14.7 per cent of household income on average nationally.

Capital city households spent $401.05 a week on transport costs or $20,855 over the course of a year, while households in regional areas had costs of $330.67 per week or an annual total of $17,195.

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“The latest results include the impact of global price shocks flowing from the war in Ukraine, and changing vehicle purchase patterns, which in turn impact car repayments,” commented AAA MD Michael Bradley.

Aussie households spent $368 a week on transport after petrol price surge

“Rising fuel prices continue to be a significant contributor to cost of living pressures across both regional and metropolitan Australia.”

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that fuel was one of the biggest contributors to CPI growth during the March quarter as the automotive fuel series of the CPI reached a record level for the third quarter in a row.

According to the ABS figures, fuel costs were up by 11.0 per cent on a quarterly basis and 35.1 per cent annually.

Over the past year, the AAA said that weekly fuel costs had risen by an average of $26.49 to $93.87 across the capital cities. Hobart had the highest capital city fuel cost of $100.18 per week, ahead of Sydney ($94.80), Darwin ($94.36) and Brisbane ($93.93).

Costs for fuel were even higher in regional areas at a weekly average of $96.65, with Bunbury ($116.31), Geelong ($110.69) and Launceston ($109.38) ranking as the most expensive.

Car loan repayments decreased by $20.59 per week compared to the previous quarter as an increased proportion of new car buyers chose cheaper vehicles but still accounted for 40 per cent of all transport costs with a weekly average of $149.47.

The AAA found that Sydney was the most expensive capital city for total weekly transport costs ($474.43), ahead of Melbourne ($447.83) and Brisbane ($445.69).

Regionally, Bunbury was the most expensive ($352.06), followed by Alice Springs ($350.45) and Geelong ($347.69).

In terms of share of household income, transport costs in Launceston (18.1 per cent), Hobart (17.9 per cent) and Brisbane (17.1 per cent) were all well above the national average.

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