Australia Personal Spending Slows, Still Beats Forecasts

2026-08-04 01:57 By Farida Husna 1 min. read

Household spending in Australia rose 0.8% month-on-month in June 2026, easing from a marginally revised 1.2% gain in the previous month and marking the weakest pace since February.

Still, the latest figure exceeded market expectations of 0.2%.

Spending growth slowed for food (0.3% vs 1.1% in May) and furnishings (0.6% vs 0.8%), while declines were seen in clothing and footwear (-0.7% vs 2.4%), hotels, cafes, and restaurants (-0.1% vs 1.8%), and miscellaneous goods and services (-0.6% vs 2.2%).

By contrast, spending accelerated in alcohol and tobacco (1.0%), health (0.3%), transport (3.0%), and recreation (1.4%).

Regionally, all states and territories recorded gains: New South Wales (1.0%), Victoria (0.6%), Queensland (0.4%), South Australia (0.5%), Western Australia (1.3%), Tasmania (1.6%), the Northern Territory (0.2%), and the Australian Capital Territory (1.4%).

On an annual basis, household spending climbed 6.0%, up from 5.5% in May, pointing to the fastest pace in three months.



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