Household spending up slightly in August
Household spending rose 0.1 per cent in August, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This follows rises of 0.4 per cent in July and 0.5 per cent in June.
Lauren Binns, ABS head of business statistics, said: ‘The small rise in August was the fourth increase in a row, and spending has risen in 10 of the last 12 months.
‘Through the year growth remained elevated. Household spending was 5.0 per cent higher than the same time last year.’
‘Households spent more on booking airline travel and accommodation services during August. This contributed to a 0.5 per cent rise for Services spending. In contrast, Goods spending fell 0.2 per cent,’ Ms Binns said.
Five of the nine spending categories rose in August. This was led by Transport, which rose 0.8 per cent, and was driven by Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Miscellaneous goods and services also rose 0.8 per cent.
The largest falls in spending were for Recreation and culture (-0.9 per cent) and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-0.9 per cent).
In annual terms, Miscellaneous goods and services (+8.9 per cent) and Health (+8.0 per cent) had the largest growth rates in the 12 months to August.
Services spending was 8.1 per cent higher than August 2024, while Goods spending was up 2.5 per cent.
Household spending grew in five of the eight states and territories in August.
The Australian Capital Territory (+2.9 per cent) and Tasmania (+0.6 per cent) recorded the largest growth rates, while the Northern Territory (-1.2 per cent) had the biggest fall.
Media notes
- The indicator is produced using aggregated and de-identified card transactions from banks, supermarket scanner data, and motor vehicle sales data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and Electric Vehicle Council.
- The indicator includes nine of the 13 key divisions which are classified according to the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP).
- Care should be given when comparing Household Spending Indicator estimates with other ABS products. See the Methodology page for further information.
- When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
- For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (9am–5pm Mon–Fri).
- Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
- Watch our data crash course, designed especially for journalists, to learn how to find, download and interpret our data.