Index of Commodity Prices August 2026

Preliminary estimates for August indicate that the index increased by 1.2 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after decreasing by 0.5 per cent in July. The non-rural and base metals subindices increased in the month, while the rural subindex decreased. In Australian dollar terms, the index increased by 0.1 per cent in August.

Over the past year, the index has increased by 15.5 per cent in SDR terms. Increases have been broadly based across the prices of most commodities, with the exception of iron ore and alumina prices. The index has increased by 5.8 per cent in Australian dollar terms.

Consistent with previous releases, preliminary estimates for iron ore, coking coal, thermal coal and LNG export prices are being used for the most recent months, based on market information. Using spot prices for the bulk commodities index, the index increased by 1.0 per cent in August in SDR terms, and remains 14.7 per cent higher over the past year.

For further details regarding the construction of the index, please refer to ‘Changes to the RBA Index of Commodity Prices: 2013’ in the March 2013 issue of the Bulletin and ‘Weights for the Index of Commodity Prices’ (April 2026).

Details are in the attached table and graph.