2026.09.2901:43:04UTC+00Australia Household Spending Stalls After Three-Month Growth

Australian household spending was unchanged month-on-month in August 2026, following a 1.1% rise in July and bringing an end to three consecutive months of growth. Outlays continued to increase for transport (2.3% vs 0.5% in July), hotels, cafes and restaurants (0.8% vs 1.1%), and miscellaneous goods and services (0.3% vs 1.3%). However, these gains were offset by declines in spending on food (-0.3% vs 0.9%), alcohol and tobacco (-1.0% vs 1.1%), clothing (-1.0% vs 1.5%), furnishings (-0.6% vs 0.3%), health (-0.9% vs 1.2%), and recreation (-1.4% vs 1.7%).

By state and territory, spending increased in New South Wales (0.3%), Queensland (0.3%), South Australia (0.1%) and the Northern Territory (0.1%), but declined in Victoria (-0.4%), Western Australia (-0.2%), Tasmania (-0.5%) and the Australian Capital Territory (-0.5%). On an annual basis, household spending rose 6.8%, slightly easing from 7.0% in July, which had marked the fastest pace of growth since June 2023.