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Australia is in the middle of a cost of living crisis but we’re not the only ones. Here’s what inflation looks like around the world

Aussies are well aware that the cost of living is increasing. Prices of food, gas, petrol and rent have skyrocketed thanks to the inflation rate rising to 6.1 per cent in Juneto 21-year high.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a 2.4 per cent rise in annual wage growth for the March quarter, this has not been enough to compete with the soaring cost of living, leaving people struggling around the country.

But we’re not the only ones.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization that includes 38 countries such as Australia, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.

International events such as supply chain interruptions, COVID-19 implications and the war in Ukraine saw inflation in OECD countries rise to 9.6 per cent in May compared to 9.2 per cent in April. This represents the sharpest price increase since 1988.

Here’s a crash course in inflation and what it looks like around the world.

What is inflation and what causes it?

Inflation measures how much more expensive a set of goods and services has become over a certain period of time.

The most well-known indicator of this is the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households.

Temporary changes in inflation may be caused by events like supply disruptions or seasonal sales, according to the RBA.

More persistent changes in inflation generally arise when people and businesses change their expectations about future price moves, and thus start demanding higher wages or passing on cost increases to their customers to compensate for them.

In the worst case, these expectations of rising prices can cause inflation to spiral out of control.

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Business

Here’s why your morning coffee costs more and why the price could keep going up

If your morning cup of coffee has left a sour taste in your mouth lately, it may not be the beans, but the price tag that’s causing you to feel bitter.

The price of a flat white – and any cafe-made coffee – has been forced up not just by the cost of international freight and wages, but incidentals such as the wholesale price of caramel syrup.

What’s the average price of a coffee now?

Colombia Coffee Co’s Daniel Mejia owns multiple cafes and is a wholesaler of coffee beans on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

He said people should expect to pay between $4.50 and $5.50 for an average 250ml (8oz) coffee without fancy milk or extra shots of espresso.

“When you pay $5.50 for an eight-ounce coffee, then the expectation that you should have as a customer is that it will be a top-class coffee,” he said.

“You pretty much want to walk out of that shop, raving about the coffee you just had.

“A coffee that used to cost $5 is now probably $6.”

Man making coffee at machine
Mr Mejia says he’s sensitive about price increases because he sees coffee as a way for people to connect.(ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques)

He said every single element of coffee making is now more expensive: the beans, the electricity used to heat water, the maintenance of the machines, the milk and any alternative to milk.

“But if you get a flat white with an extra shot on soy, with a shot of caramel, then the soy has increased as well.

“The shot of caramel that used to be 50 cents, is probably 70 or 80 cents.”

Perfect storm in your coffee cup

Bruno Maiolo has headed the Australian Specialty Coffee Association for 20 years and runs C4 Coffee in Melbourne.

Man with short dark hair, looking inside bag of coffee beans
Mr Maiolo says worldwide factors are affecting coffee prices in Australia.(Supplied: Australian Specialty Coffee Association)

He said $5 was the right price to pay for an average, medium coffee that would have cost $3.80 a year ago.

But while it was more expensive, cafes were still not passing on the full costs.

“Just on supply and trade issues, a cup of coffee should really be closer to $7 if everyone was to maintain the same margin they’d been enjoying pre-COVID.”

“[The price] will still creep up. It just has to because you have to spend on the costs.”

Mr Maiolo said many factors both around the world and in Australia were coming together to push up the price of a barista-made cappuccino.

He said the biggest contributor was COVID, which not only forced farms in many countries to shut down, but also caused a huge number of deaths, which had an impact on their workforces.

Hand of barista pouring a latte coffee with pattern.
The cost of a cup of coffee could keep creeping up as cafes and wholesalers are forced to spend on costs.(ABC News: Alkira Reinfrank )

When the beans were sent across the world in a shipping container, that too was costing more.

Mr Maiolo said the cost of a transporting a container had risen six-fold from $2,500 to about $15,000.

On top of these factors, Brazil – a major coffee-growing region – endured a massive frost last year which meant fewer beans were picked.

close-up of coffee beans in roaster
Mr Maiolo says COVID, a shortage of workers in foreign farms and the cost of freight are all pushing up the cost of beans.(ABC Central West: Xanthe Gregory)

With increased demand and fewer beans, the price went up even further.

Mr Maiolo said none of these factors were likely to resolve any time soon.

“The price will stay high for quite some time, at least the next sort of 12 to 18 months, before we can start getting some sort of normality in terms of freight and logistics,” he said.

Making coffee ‘more than business’

Back on the Sunshine Coast and Mr Mejia said while he felt he had no choice but to increase the price of his coffee, it was a painful decision to make.

He said the survival of his business was not the only thing on his mind.

“Coffee is the social lubricant that keeps people flowing around and connecting with each other.

“We are the keepers of that, and we embrace that role beyond our business and more like a community role.”

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