Consumer Price Index, September 2023

Released: 2023-10-17

In September, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.8% on a year-over-year basis, down from a 4.0% gain in August. The year-over-year deceleration was broad-based, stemming from lower prices for some travel-related services, durable goods and groceries.

Offsetting the deceleration in the all-items CPI was a year-over-year increase in gasoline prices, which rose at a faster pace in September (+7.5%) compared with August (+0.8%) due to a base-year effect. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 3.7% in September, following a 4.1% increase in August.

On a monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.1% in September, after a 0.4% gain in August. The monthly slowdown was mainly driven by lower month-over-month prices for gasoline (-1.3%) in September. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2%, stemming from travel-related services.

Chart 1 
12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding gasoline

Chart 2 
Price growth slows in five major components

Price growth for groceries continues to slow, but remains elevated

Price growth for groceries continued to slow in September but remained above headline inflation, rising 5.8% year over year, following a 6.9% increase in August. The deceleration stemmed from year-over-year slowdowns in meat (+4.4%), dairy products (+4.0%) and coffee and tea (+2.7%), which were mainly driven by base-year effects. Large monthly gains in September 2022, when grocery prices increased at the fastest pace in 41 years, fell out of the 12-month movements and put downward pressure on the indexes.

In contrast, prices for fresh fruit (+3.0%), fish (+5.1%), bakery products (+8.0%) and edible fats and oils (+14.8%) increased at a faster pace on a year-over-year basis in September compared with August.

Chart 3 
Prices decelerate for some food products while others accelerate

Consumers pay less for airfares

Consumers paid less on a year-over-year basis for air transportation (-21.1%) in September, coinciding with a gradual increase in flights offered by airlines over the previous 12 months.

Prices for durable goods decelerate

Prices for durable goods rose at a slower pace year over year in September (+0.4%) compared with August (+1.4%). The purchase of new passenger vehicles index contributed the most to the slowdown, rising 1.7% year over year in September, following a 3.1% gain in August. The deceleration in the price of new passenger vehicles was partly attributable to improved inventory levels compared with a year ago.

Additionally, prices for furniture (-4.6%) and household appliances (-2.3%) continued to decline on a year-over-year basis in September, also contributing to the slowdown in durable goods.

Chart 4 
Price growth accelerates in non-durable goods

Regional highlights

Year over year, prices increased in all provinces in September but rose at a slower pace compared with August in six provinces.

Chart 5 
The Consumer Price Index rises at a slower pace in six provinces

Gasoline prices accelerate on base-year effect

Year over year, gasoline prices rose 7.5% at the national level in September, following a 0.8% increase in August. The increase was mainly driven by a base-year effect, as prices fell 7.4% month over month in September 2022, amid an increase in global supply of crude oil.

Prices at the pump accelerated the most in Eastern Canada on a year-over-year basis in September 2023. In Western Canada, refinery shutdowns limited supply in September 2022, which kept gasoline prices higher that year. As a result, gasoline prices in western provinces did not fall to the same extent from August to September 2022.

Chart 6 
Gasoline prices accelerate the most in Eastern Canada

Products

The "Consumer Price Index Data Visualization Tool" is available on the Statistics Canada website.

More information on the concepts and use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is available in The Canadian Consumer Price Index Reference Paper (Catalogue number62-553-X).

For information on the history of the CPI in Canada, consult the publication Exploring the First Century of Canada's Consumer Price Index (Catalogue number62-604-X).

Two videos, "An Overview of Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI)" and "The Consumer Price Index and Your Experience of Price Change," are available on Statistics Canada's YouTube channel.

Find out answers to the most common questions posed about the CPI in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).