Monthly Household Spending Indicator

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Experimental indicator of household spending using bank transactions data

Reference period
October 2022
Released
6/12/2022

Key statistics

  • Household spending increased 20.7% through the year on a current price, calendar adjusted basis.
  • Through the year, household spending increased for both services (+34.2%) and goods (+9.3%).
  • Through the year, both non-discretionary (+21.0%) and discretionary (+20.4%) spending increased.

Index reference period January 2019 = 100.0

The current July - October 2022 estimates of the Monthly Household Spending indicator are benchmarked using the June quarter 2022 Household Final Consumption Expenditure results as the September quarter 2022 is yet to be published. The Indicator will be re-benchmarked to the September quarter 2022 Household Final Consumption Expenditure estimates when the November release is published on 10/01/2023. 

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. 

Significant events such as COVID-19 can lead to very strong through the year rises. Care should be given when comparing periods with these events.

Through the year spending

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

  • transport (+42.3%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+39.9%)
  • clothing and footwear (+32.2%).

Goods and services spending

Through the year, household spending on:

  • services rose 34.2%, driven by increased spending on transport, recreational, and catering services. 
  • goods rose 9.3%, driven by rises in clothing and footwear. 

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

Through the year: 

  • discretionary household spending rose 20.4%, driven by spending in recreation and culture, and clothing and footwear. 
  • non-discretionary household spending rose 21.0%, driven by spending on transport services. 

State and territory spending

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

  • the Australian Capital Territory (+36.6%)
  • Victoria (+32.8%)
  • South Australia (+17.0%).

In the Australian Capital Territory, the strongest household spending categories through the year were:

  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+91.8%)
  • clothing and footwear (+71.9%)
  • transport (+67.5%).

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

  • clothing and footwear (+88.2%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+70.0%)
  • transport (+63.9%). 

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

  • transport (+29.2%)
  • alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+27.9%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+24.0%). 

 

State household spending through the year by category, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food2.00.47.610.711.16.510.63.2
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco6.518.512.027.917.120.410.522.7
Clothing and footwear15.588.219.513.620.9021.171.9
Furnishings and household equipment-11.923.2-0.54.3-4.3-10.711.420.0
Health10.323.18.911.316.614.42.224.2
Transport44.963.924.329.231.135.821.167.5
Recreation and culture29.133.821.416.316.119.53.732.4
Hotels, cafes and restaurants41.070.029.824.010.030.510.991.8
Miscellaneous goods and services1.734.614.215.320.413.24.633.6
Total16.532.815.417.015.916.09.736.6
State household spending through the year by goods/services, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Goods1.417.98.810.39.94.49.717.2
Services35.252.422.624.322.428.310.057.5
State household discretionary/non-discretionary spending, through the year, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Discretionary12.737.915.916.114.611.910.137.6
Non Discretionary20.728.114.917.917.020.09.635.6

Data downloads

This release includes new datacubes in the standard ABS format. Each series has a unique identifier that can be found in the spreadsheet labelled "New datacubes concordance". 

If you have any questions regarding the new structure, please contact national.accounts@abs.gov.au

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.

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