Monthly Household Spending Indicator

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Experimental indicator of household spending using bank transactions data

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Reference period
July 2022
Released
6/09/2022
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Release date and time
06/09/2022 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • Household spending increased 18.4% through the year, current price, calendar adjusted.
  • Through the year, household spending increased for both services (+28.4%) and goods (+9.5%).
  • Through the year, both discretionary (+19.8%) and non-discretionary (+17.1%) spending increased.

Index reference period January 2019 = 100.0

The current April - July 2022 estimates of the Monthly Household Spending indicator are benchmarked using the March quarter 2022 Household Final Consumption Expenditure results as the June Quarter 2022 is yet to be published. The Indicator will be re-benchmarked to the June quarter 2022 Household Final Consumption Expenditure estimates when the August release is published on 11/10/2022. 

Indicator estimates are produced in current price original and current price calendar adjusted terms. Calendar adjusted estimates account for trading day impacts and length of month. As the indicator time series lengthens, seasonally adjusted estimates will become available. Until such time, it is advised to focus on the through the year movements. Through the year movements measure change in the current month compared to the same month in the previous year. 

Through the year spending

Through the year household spending increased in all nine spending categories. The largest increases were in:

  • clothing and footwear (+45.0%)
  • transport (+35.4%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+34.9%).

Goods and services spending

Through the year, household spending on:

  • services rose 28.4%, driven by increased spending on recreational, transport, and catering services. 
  • goods rose 9.5%, driven by rises in clothing and footwear. 

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

Through the year: 

  • discretionary household spending rose 19.8%, driven by spending in recreation and culture, and clothing and footwear. 
  • non-discretionary household spending rose 17.1%, driven by spending on transport and catering services. 

State and territory spending

Household spending increased through the year for all states and territories. The strongest increases were in:

  • New South Wales (+30.9%)
  • South Australia (+23.9%)
  • Queensland (+14.8%).

In New South Wales, the strongest household spending categories through the year were:

  • clothing and footwear (+95.6%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+70.5%)
  • transport (+55.3%).

In South Australia, the strongest household spending categories through the year were:

  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+42.8%)
  • transport (+41.2%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+34.9%). 

In Queensland, the strongest household spending categories through the year were:

  • clothing and footwear (+33.5%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+29.8%)
  • transport (+28.0%). 

 

State household spending through the year by category, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food0.30.34.58.51.19.7-8.20.7
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco-0.3-5.810.613.15.2-0.328.9-11.3
Clothing and footwear95.631.433.520.526.30.94.77.9
Furnishings and household equipment2.1-2.1-0.525.7-6.610.2-0.3-31.8
Health17.41.92.7225.7-6.44.4-4.7
Transport55.328.52841.22526.935.220.2
Recreation and culture49.933.414.415.810.53.45.228.4
Hotels, cafes and restaurants70.51529.842.816.935.2-4.718.9
Miscellaneous goods and services35.44.825.134.9229.325.67.8
Total30.912.214.823.911.3118.56.2
State household spending through the year by goods/services, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Goods15.45.98.715.85.330.6-4.5
Services49.419.721.33317.819.214.316.2
State household discretionary/non-discretionary spending, through the year, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Discretionary33.214.215.123.310.87.69.62.8
Non Discretionary28.610.414.624.511.714.27.49.3

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Monthly Household Spending Indicator Data Cubes

Includes index numbers, monthly percentage changes and through the year percentage changes. 

Data files

Revisions and future development

Updates to source data and additional processing have resulted in some revisions to the outputs. 

The new experimental monthly household spending indicator uses new and innovative methodologies to produce indicators of household spending based on bank transactions data.

The ABS is continuing to assess and refine the monthly household spending indicator methodologies and welcomes comments on the usefulness of these estimates. 

The ABS is able to provide technical advice on using the monthly household spending indicator estimates, and its coherence with other ABS estimates such as Monthly Retail Trade and the National Accounts.

The ABS welcomes comments on the usefulness of these estimates. If you would like to provide feedback or request technical advice, please email national.accounts@abs.gov.au.

Acknowledgement

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

Methodology

Monthly Household Spending Indicator methodology, July 2022

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