Monthly Household Spending Indicator

Latest release

Monthly and quarterly estimates of household spending

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Reference period
December 2025
Released
9/02/2026
  • Next Release 5/03/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, January 2026
  • Next Release 7/04/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, February 2026
  • Next Release 5/05/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, March 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
09/02/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

In December 2025, household spending:

  • Fell -0.4% month-on-month on a current price, seasonally adjusted basis.
  • In volume terms, the seasonally adjusted estimate rose 0.9% in the December quarter 2025.

Total Household Spending

Household spending at current prices
 Dec-25 ($ millions)Nov-2025 to Dec-2025 (% change)Dec-2024 to Dec-2025 (% change)
Seasonally Adjusted78,862.7-0.45.0
Trend78,908.50.45.2
Household spending in volume terms
 Dec Qtr 2025 ($ millions)Sep Qtr 2025 to Dec Qtr 2025 (% change)Dec Qtr 2024 to Dec Qtr 2025 (% change)
Seasonally Adjusted224,846.90.92.4

Data note: Cigarettes and tobacco spending

The MHSI includes spending on cigarettes and tobacco products in the "Alcoholic beverages and tobacco" category. Monthly and quarterly movements are derived using data on legal sales of cigarettes and tobacco at supermarkets. Sales of illicit tobacco are not included. Further information about the method for estimating cigarettes and tobacco spending can be found in the following article: Interpreting the Monthly Household Spending Indicator.

With the rise of illicit tobacco sales over the past few years, MHSI estimates of cigarettes and tobacco have fallen sharply, detracting from overall growth. The table below shows estimated quarterly MHSI spending growth rates with and without cigarettes and tobacco included, in seasonally adjusted, volume terms. For example, we estimate that household spending volumes rose 1.0% in the December quarter 2025 if cigarettes and tobacco spending was excluded. Over the past 2 years, cigarettes and tobacco spending has detracted around 0.2 percentage points per quarter from total household spending.

MHSI quarterly volume growth rates, seasonally adjusted, including and excluding cigarettes and tobacco spending
QuarterMHSI including cigarettes and tobaccoMHSI excluding cigarettes and tobaccoDifference
Mar-241.31.50.2
Jun-24-1.0-0.80.1
Sep-240.10.20.1
Dec-240.81.00.2
Mar-250.40.60.2
Jun-251.01.20.3
Sep-250.10.30.2
Dec-250.91.00.1

Household Spending by category

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms household spending decreased for six of the nine spending categories. The largest decreases were in:

  • clothing and footwear (-2.4%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (-1.7%)
  • health (-1.3%).

Goods and services spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on goods fell 0.5% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on clothing and footwear, goods for recreation and culture, and household appliances and tools.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on services fell 0.3% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on rail and road transport, air passenger and sea transport, and total health services.

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on discretionary goods and services fell 0.3% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on clothing and footwear, air passenger and sea transport, and household appliances and tools.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on non discretionary goods and services fell 0.5% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on rail and road transport, medicines, medical aids and therapeutic appliances, and total health services.

State and territory spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending decreased for four of the eight states and territories. The strongest decreases were in:

  • Victoria (-1.0%)
  • New South Wales (-0.6%)
  • Australian Capital Territory (-0.4%).

In Victoria, the household spending categories that drove the fall for the month were:

  • clothing and footwear (-4.0%)
  • health (-2.3%)
  • recreation and culture (-1.8%).

In New South Wales, the household spending categories that drove the fall for the month were:

  • clothing and footwear (-3.4%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (-2.4%)
  • health (-1.7%).

In the Australian Capital Territory, the household spending categories that drove the fall for the month were:

  • clothing and footwear (-3.9%)
  • health (-1.2%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (-0.8%).

 

 

State household spending by category, percentage change from previous month, current price, seasonally adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food-0.5-0.3-0.7-0.20.10.6-3.4-0.2
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco-0.1-0.110.31.20.10.5-1.0-0.7
Clothing and footwear-3.4-4.00.00.0-1.3-1.65.8-3.9
Furnishings and household equipment-2.4-0.4-2.2-2.0-1.60.2-2.5-0.8
Health-1.7-2.3-0.9-0.20.1-0.811.8-1.2
Transport1.00.30.31.6-0.32.77.6-0.4
Recreation and culture0.2-1.80.3-0.3-1.1-0.62.40.3
Hotels, cafes and restaurants-0.50.81.23.10.4-1.81.6-0.1
Miscellaneous goods and services-1.0-1.6-0.8-2.60.30.66.50.5
Total-0.6-1.00.20.3-0.30.12.9-0.4

 

Quarterly household spending volumes

In seasonally adjusted, volume terms household spending rose 0.9% for the quarter. The largest increases were in Clothing and footwear (+4.1%), Furnishings and household equipment (+3.6%), and Hotels, cafes and restaurants (+1.5%).

In seasonally adjusted, volume terms the strongest increases were in Western Australia (+1.7%), New South Wales (+1.1%), and Queensland (+1.0%).

Post release changes

Table 4 was erroneously titled as "Table 3: Estimates of Household Spending, New South Wales" and now has been updated to "Table 4: Estimates of Household Spending, Victoria".

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Monthly Household Spending Indicator Data Cubes

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For more information about Data Explorer, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Monthly Household Spending Indicator - Monthly and quarterly percentage changes and household spending estimates

MHSI enhancements

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has collaborated with key data users to enhance the Monthly Household Spending Indicator (MHSI) and better address their needs. Based on user feedback, enhancements to MHSI have been progressively rolled out.  These improvements provide a more comprehensive view of household consumption, including:

  • Moving to a ‘household consumption’ concept bringing MHSI closer to its predominant use. This includes updates to MHSI methods and data sources.
  • Monthly seasonally adjusted estimates by COICOP category and for the four analytical series (Goods, Services, Discretionary and Non-Discretionary), by State/territory.
  • Quarterly chain volume measures for the nine currently published COICOP categories, by State/territory. Seasonally adjusted chain volume measures are available for selected series.
  • Dollar levels for all series.
  • Back-casted estimates for all current price and volumes series.

In March 2025 the ABS released an information paper, which provides guidance on using MHSI data: Interpreting the Monthly Household Spending Indicator.

The ABS ceased the Retail Trade publication on 31 July 2025. We will continue to work with partners and stakeholders to further enhance the MHSI and provide users with suitable timely data to support their needs. More Information about this transition can be found on the Cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication webpage or through contacting us at household.spending@abs.gov.au.

Changes in this release

Following the introduction of the complete monthly CPI, the quarterly CPI is now compiled as an average of the three relevant monthly series. This change has been incorporated into the price deflators used to produce quarterly chain volume estimates of household spending published in this release and enhances the quality of measures of real household spending. The new monthly CPI indexes have been incorporated into chain volume estimates back to September 2024.

Acknowledgement

The ABS would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the participating banks that have enabled the ABS to produce these statistics.

Methodology

Scope

  • Final consumption of goods and services by Australian households.
  • Guided by the UNSD’s COICOP classification and aligned with National Accounts HFCE categories and concepts.

Geography

Data is available for:

  • Australia Total.
  • States and territories.

Source

Aggregated, de-identified bank card transactions data provided to the ABS from participating banks. Also collected are supermarket transactions and new vehicle sales data.

Collection method

Participating banks send transactions data soon after the end of each calendar month. Supermarkets send weekly transactions files, and VFACTS is received as a monthly delivery from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Concepts, sources and methods

Household consumption is categorised to COICOP Divisions. Outputs from 9 COICOPs and all states and territories are published. Data is benchmarked to annual HFCE and adjusted monthly to cover data gaps such as cash spending.

 

History of changes

December 2025: 

  • Complete monthly CPI changes incorporated into the price deflators used to produce quarterly chain volume estimates of household spending
View full methodology

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