Canberra, Oct 30 (IANS): Australia's annual inflation rate has fallen to its lowest level in over three years, official figures have revealed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday said that the consumer price index (CPI), the headline measure of inflation in Australia, rose by 2.8 per cent in the 12 months to the end of September and by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 between the start of July and end of September, Xinhua reported.

It marks the lowest CPI increase in any 12-month period to the end of a quarter since March 2021 and the lowest quarterly CPI growth since the three-month period ending in June 2020.

"Annually, the September quarter's rise of 2.8 per cent was down from 3.8 per cent in the June quarter. This is the lowest annual inflation rate since the March 2021 quarter," Michelle Marquardt, ABS head of prices statistics, said in a statement, Xinhua reported.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that economists had generally predicted that the annual figure for September would come in at 2.9 per cent.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement posted on social media that the new data shows inflation is within the 2-3 per cent target band set by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, for the first time since 2021.

The ABS said that electricity prices fell by 17.3 per cent in the three-month period to the end of September, the largest quarterly fall on record, as government energy bill relief measures took effect.

Automotive fuel prices declined by 6.7 per cent in the same period.

However, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 0.6 per cent in the quarter and international holiday travel and accommodation prices by 1.9 per cent.