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BIS central bank policy rates (M.AU) · The Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month

What is the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia?

The policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia was 4.600% in the month ended , up 1.000 percentage point from a year earlier.

Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, not seasonally adjusted, each month

April 1976 to September 2026Not seasonally adjusted, as published

Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, not seasonally adjusted, each month (April 1976 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, not seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, not seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

April 1976 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (April 1976 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month4.600%4.350%3.600%0.100%1.500%
Change over a year+1.000 pts+0.750 pts−0.750 pts−0.150 pts−0.500 pts

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Observed .

Right now

The policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia was 4.600% in September 2026, the highest since October 2011.

Over a year it is up 1.000 percentage point (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month4.350%, the rate in +0.250 percentage points
Three months4.350%, the rate in +0.250 percentage points
Twelve months3.600%, the rate in +1.000 percentage point
Five years0.100%, the rate in +4.500 percentage points
Ten years1.500%, the rate in +3.100 percentage points

In historyOurs

The policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia of 4.600% in was higher than in 210 of the 605 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 395.

Highest since : 42.500% in . Lowest since : 0.100% in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 6.9469% (ours, a plain mean of the 606 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia is up 1.000 percentage point, which ranks 2 of the 38 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia beside the economies on the central bank rates page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia

Where it stands today

The policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia was 4.600% in September 2026.

What does the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia measure?

This is the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia: the cash rate target. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) collects the policy rates of central banks and publishes, for each economy, the rate in force at the end of each month.

Read more

The series is the cash rate target from 2 August 1990. From 23 January 1990 to 1 August 1990 it is the middle of the target range for the cash rate, and from 7 April 1976 to 22 January 1990 the interbank overnight cash rate.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and how the change over a year compares with the other economies on the central bank rates page.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Apr 1976
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, not seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Percent a year, end of month; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
4.600%+1.000 pts
4.350%+0.750 pts
4.350%+0.500 pts
4.350%+0.500 pts
4.350%+0.500 pts
4.100%0.000 pts
4.100%0.000 pts
3.850%−0.250 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.600%−0.750 pts
3.850%−0.500 pts
3.850%−0.500 pts
3.850%−0.500 pts
4.100%−0.250 pts
4.100%−0.250 pts
4.100%−0.250 pts
4.350%0.000 pts
4.350%0.000 pts
4.350%0.000 pts
4.350%+0.250 pts
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
4.350%+0.250 pts
4.350%+0.250 pts
4.350%+0.250 pts
4.350%+0.250 pts
4.350%+0.500 pts
4.350%+0.750 pts
4.350%+0.750 pts
4.350%+1.000 pts
4.350%+1.250 pts
4.350%+1.250 pts
4.350%+1.500 pts
4.100%+1.500 pts
4.100%+1.750 pts
4.100%+2.250 pts
4.100%+2.750 pts
4.100%+3.250 pts
3.850%+3.500 pts
3.600%+3.500 pts
3.600%+3.500 pts
3.350%+3.250 pts
3.100%+3.000 pts
3.100%+3.000 pts
2.850%+2.750 pts
2.600%+2.500 pts
2.350%+2.250 pts
1.850%+1.750 pts
1.350%+1.250 pts
0.850%+0.750 pts
0.350%+0.250 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%0.000 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.150 pts
0.100%−0.650 pts
0.100%−0.650 pts
0.100%−0.650 pts
0.100%−0.650 pts
0.250%−0.500 pts
0.250%−0.750 pts
0.250%−0.750 pts
0.250%−0.750 pts
0.250%−1.000 pts
0.250%−1.250 pts
0.250%−1.250 pts
0.250%−1.250 pts
0.750%−0.750 pts
0.750%−0.750 pts
0.750%−0.750 pts
0.750%−0.750 pts
0.750%−0.750 pts
1.000%−0.500 pts
1.000%−0.500 pts
1.000%−0.500 pts
1.250%−0.250 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%0.000 pts
1.500%−0.250 pts
1.500%−0.250 pts
1.500%−0.250 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
1.500%−0.500 pts
How does it compare with the economies on the central bank rates page?Ranked by the change over a year
Policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month beside the economies on the central bank rates page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Colombia12.000%+2.750 pts1
Australia4.600%+1.000 pts2
Indonesia5.750%+1.000 pts2
Japan1.250%+0.750 pts4
Denmark2.100%+0.500 pts5
Euro Area2.500%+0.500 pts5
Iceland8.000%+0.500 pts5
Norway4.500%+0.500 pts5
South Korea3.000%+0.500 pts5
Czech Republic3.750%+0.250 pts10
South Africa7.250%+0.250 pts10
China3.000%0.000 pts12
Malaysia2.750%0.000 pts12
Morocco2.250%0.000 pts12
Peru4.250%0.000 pts12
Philippines5.000%0.000 pts12
Romania6.500%0.000 pts12
Serbia5.750%0.000 pts12
Switzerland0.000%0.000 pts12
Canada2.250%−0.250 pts20
Chile4.500%−0.250 pts20
Hong Kong4.250%−0.250 pts20
India5.250%−0.250 pts20
Kuwait3.500%−0.250 pts20
New Zealand2.750%−0.250 pts20
Saudi Arabia4.500%−0.250 pts20
Sweden1.750%−0.250 pts20
United Kingdom3.750%−0.250 pts20
United States3.875%−0.250 pts20
Thailand1.000%−0.500 pts30
Hungary5.500%−1.000 pts31
Mexico6.500%−1.000 pts31
Poland3.750%−1.000 pts31
North Macedonia4.250%−1.100 pts34
Brazil13.750%−1.250 pts35
Israel3.250%−1.250 pts35
Russia14.000%−3.000 pts37
Turkey37.000%−3.500 pts38

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • The BIS takes most of its policy rate series from the central banks as national data. A month's value is the rate in force at the end of the month, so a rate that is changed and changed back inside one month does not show.
  • Banks define their policy rate in different ways, so the levels of two economies are not strictly comparable. The rate is the bank's own, in its own currency, and is not adjusted for inflation.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values the BIS publishes; a change is in percentage points.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

Bank for International Settlements, central bank policy rates, The Reserve Bank of Australia, end of month, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the policy rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia?", https://500metrics.com/central-bank-rates/australia.

Can the data be downloaded?central-bank-rates-australia.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 606 rows, to , 11,411 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Page updated

Sources

Bank for International Settlements, central bank policy rates (source) Terms: BIS terms of permitted use of statistics.