Monthly Household Spending Indicator

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Experimental indicator of household spending using bank transactions data

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Reference period
May 2024
Released
5/07/2024
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Key statistics

  • Household spending increased 0.1% through the year on a current price, calendar adjusted basis.
  • Through the year, household spending increased for services (+2.3%) and decreased for goods (-2.5%).
  • Through the year, household spending increased for non-discretionary (+1.8%) and decreased for discretionary (-1.9%).

Future improvements to the Monthly Household Spending Indicator

A media statement on Thursday 23 November 2023 announced that the ABS would be enhancing the Monthly Household Spending Indicator (MHSI) in 2024, and ceasing the Retail Trade publication after the June 2025 reference period. The changes to the MHSI are planned to take effect in the June 2024 reference month, to be released on 2 August 2024. For more information, please see Changes to future releases below or visit the Future cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication webpage.

Suspension of Alcoholic beverages and tobacco series

In this release, data for the Alcoholic beverages and tobacco category has not been published for the last five months. This category is subject to significant revisions after the spending indicator is benchmarked to Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE).

The ABS is continuing to assess and refine the methodologies for the Alcoholic beverages and tobacco series in both the HFCE and monthly spending indicator series. The data will be available in the Monthly Household Spending Indicator later in 2024 as part of the future improvements (see above).

Index reference period January 2019 = 100.0

Indicator estimates are produced in current price original and current price calendar adjusted terms. Calendar adjusted estimates account for trading day impacts and the length of month. The inclusion of seasonally adjusted estimates for some series is planned from the June 2024 reference month. 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 for four spending categories. The largest increases were in:

  • health (+8.8%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+7.3%)
  • furnishing and household equipment (+3.3%).

 

Goods and services spending

Index reference period January 2019 = 100.0

Through the year, household spending on:

  • services rose 2.3%, driven by increased spending on health and other services.
  • goods fell 2.5%, driven by decreased spending on clothing and footwear and goods for recreation and culture.

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

Index reference period January 2019 = 100.0

Through the year: 

  • non-discretionary spending rose 1.8%, driven by increased spending on health and purchase and operation of vehicles.
  • discretionary spending fell 1.9%, driven by decreased spending on clothing and footwear and accommodation services.

State and territory spending

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

  • Queensland (+2.2%)
  • South Australia (+0.8%)
  • Northern Territory (+0.7%)

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

  • health (+10.1%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+7.3%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (+3.8%).

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

  • health (+12.4%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+6.8%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (+4.6%).

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

  • miscellaneous goods and services (+17.9%)
  • health (+11.1%)
  • transport (+3.7%).
State household spending through the year by category, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food1.40.61.90.71.73.12.9-2.9
Clothing and footwear-10.4-7.8-11.3-13.1-9.4-5.6-15.0-13.8
Furnishings and household equipment2.14.33.84.64.410.0-12.5-2.4
Health6.910.410.112.45.35.311.19.0
Transport-2.4-4.2-0.3-0.4-0.5-3.63.7-2.5
Recreation and culture-3.6-3.51.40.6-6.8-3.2-5.1-8.2
Hotels, cafes and restaurants-2.6-4.20.7-6.1-4.8-1.4-3.3-8.0
Miscellaneous goods and services7.07.47.36.87.04.717.97.3
Total-0.6-0.32.20.8-0.30.70.7-3.0
State household spending through the year by goods/services, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Goods-3.4-2.8-0.5-2.6-1.8-1.0-8.9-7.8
Services1.71.94.43.70.91.87.10.4
State household discretionary/non-discretionary spending, through the year, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Discretionary-3.0-2.10.7-0.6-3.20.3-5.0-6.7
Non Discretionary1.41.23.42.01.80.96.1-0.3

Data downloads

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Monthly Household Spending Indicator Data Cubes

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

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

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

Monthly Household Spending Indicator - Monthly percentage changes and indexes, January 2019 onward

Changes to future releases

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. Following feedback from users, the MHSI will undergo further enhancements, with the changes planned to take effect in the June 2024 reference month, to be released on 2 August 2024. The enhancements will provide a more comprehensive view of household consumption which will include:

  • 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 at the national-level for total spending and the four analytical series (Goods, Services, Discretionary and Non-Discretionary).
  • Quarterly chain volume measures for the nine currently published COICOP categories, by State/territory.
  • Dollar levels for all series.

Alongside the release, we will provide comprehensive details regarding the methodology to generate the estimates.

Prior to Retail Trade ceasing, the ABS 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 Future cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication webpage or through contacting us at household.spending@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

Scope

  • Payment for goods and services by Australian households.
  • Captures the point of payment for a good or service, regardless of ownership change, service delivery, or consumption.

Geography

Data is available for:

  • Australia Total
  • States and territories.

Source

Aggregated, de-identified banks transactions data provided to the ABS from participating banks. Source data includes debit and credit card transactions, but excludes other payment types such as cash and direct transfers.

Collection method

Participating banks send transactions data soon after the end of each calendar month. 

Concepts, sources and methods

Household spending is categorised according to COICOP Divisions. Outputs are produced for total household spending and nine categories. Data is benchmarked to quarterly household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) to adjust for undercoverage.

History of changes

Not applicable for this release.

View full methodology

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