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Released:2024-06-25
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Consumer Price Index
May2024
2.9%
(12-month change)
Source(s): Table 18-10-0004-01.
Food purchased from stores
May2024
1.5%
(12-month change)
Source(s): Table 18-10-0004-01.
Shelter
May2024
6.4%
(12-month change)
Source(s): Table 18-10-0004-01.
Transportation
May2024
3.5%
(12-month change)
Source(s): Table 18-10-0004-01.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose2.9% on a year-over-year basis in May, up from a2.7% gain in April.
Acceleration in the headline CPI was largely due to higher prices for services, which rose4.6% in May following a4.2% increase in April. Faster price growth for services was led by cellular services, travel tours, rent and air transportation. Prices for goods (+1.0%) grew at the same rate as in April.
On a monthly basis, the CPI rose0.6% in May, largely stemming from an increase in travel tours. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose0.3% in May.
Chart1
12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and service prices
Chart2
Consumer prices increase in six components
Smaller year-over-year decline in prices for cellular services reflects current and base-year effect
Prices for cellular services fell at a slower year-over-year pace in May (-19.4%) than in April (-26.6%). This was partly driven by price declines in May2023, when prices for cellular services fell7.8% month over month. On a monthly basis, prices for cellular services were up1.2% in May compared with April.
Higher prices for travel tours and air transportation
Year over year, prices for travel tours (+6.9%) and air transportation (+4.5%) rose at a faster pace in May. Faster year-over-year growth was driven by month-over-month increases for travel tours (+10.4%) and air transportation (+2.3%), mostly to the United States in both cases.
Chart3
Higher prices for travel tours and air transportation on a month-over-month basis
Grocery prices increase month over month
Prices for food purchased from stores rose1.5% on a year-over-year basis in May following a1.4% increase in April. Although slight, this was the first acceleration since June2023. Prices for groceries remain elevated and have increased by22.5% compared with May2020.
On a month-over-month basis, grocery prices rose1.1% in May2024. While this monthly increase is seasonally typical, it is the largest since January2023. The monthly increase in May2024was driven by higher month-over-month prices for fresh vegetables (+3.5%), meat (+1.3%), fresh fruit (+2.2%) and non-alcoholic beverages (+2.4%). The monthly increase in meat prices was largely a result of higher prices for fresh or frozen beef, amid high demand and tight supply.
Chart4
Grocery prices accelerate for first time since June2023
Infographic1
Largest month-over-month increase in grocery prices since January2023
Explore the Consumer Price Index tools
Check out Statistics Canada's Food Price Data Hub, which features a variety of food price related statistics, articles and tools.
Check out the Personal Inflation Calculator. This interactive calculator allows you to enter dollar amounts in the common expense categories to produce a personalized inflation rate, which you can compare to the official measure of inflation for the average Canadian household—the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Browse the Consumer Price Index Data Visualization Tool to access current (Latest Snapshot of the CPI) and historical (Price trends:1914to today) CPI data in a customizable visual format.
Regional highlights
Year over year, prices rose at a faster pace in May compared with April in six provinces.
Chart5
The Consumer Price Index rises at a faster pace in six provinces
Ontarians pay more for rent
On a year-over-year basis, rent prices rose8.4% in Ontario in May, up from a6.1% increase in April. This contributed to faster growth in the national rent index, which rose8.9% in May, outpacing growth in Ontario for the ninth consecutive month. A higher interest rate environment and population increases both continue to put upward pressure on the rent index nationally.
Chart6
Year-over-year rent increase in Ontario trails national level for ninth consecutive month
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Table1Consumer Price Index, major components and special aggregates, Canada – Not seasonally adjusted
Table2Consumer Price Index for the provinces and for Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit – Not seasonally adjusted
Table3Consumer Price Index, major components and special aggregates – Seasonally adjusted
Table4Consumer Price Index statistics (CPI), measures of core inflation – Bank of Canada definitions, Canada,
Table5Main contributors to the12-month and1-month change in the Consumer Price Index
Note to readers
Visit the Consumer Price Index portal to find all Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, publications, interactive tools and announcements highlighting new products and upcoming changes to the CPI in one convenient location.
Reddit Ask Me Anything
Do you have questions about the CPI, Canadian inflation or what the new CPI basket means for measuring consumer prices? Join us for our "Reddit Ask Me Anything" event on June26,2024, at1:30p.m., Eastern Time.
Consumer Price Index basket update
The basket of goods and services used in the calculation of the CPI has been updated with the release of the May2024data. The new basket weights, available in table 18-10-0007-01, are based on2023expenditure data, ensuring the relevance of the CPI as a reflection of the most recent consumer expenditure data available.
The new basket weight reference period is2023, based on the most recent Household Final Consumption Expenditure data, and other alternative data.
The base period, in which the all-items CPI is set to equal100, remains2002.
The headline CPI for May2024would have been the same using the2022basket weights.
For more detailed information, consult the document entitled "An Analysis of the2024Consumer Price Index Basket Update, Based on2023Expenditures" in the Prices Analytical Series (Catalogue number62F0014M).
Real-time data tables
Real-time data table 18-10-0259-01 will be updated on July8. For more information, consult the document, "Real-time data tables."
Next release
The Consumer Price Index for June will be released on July16.
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 (CPI) 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-19pandemic 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).
