Monthly Household Spending Indicator

Latest release

Monthly and quarterly estimates of household spending

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Reference period
May 2026
Released
25/06/2026
  • Next Release 4/08/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, June 2026
  • Next Release 27/08/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, July 2026
  • Next Release 29/09/2026
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, August 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
25/06/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

In May 2026, household spending:

  • rose 1.3% month-on-month on a current price, seasonally adjusted basis.
  • rose 5.5% compared with May 2025.

Total household spending

Household spending at current prices
 May-2026
($ millions)		Apr-2026 to May-2026
(% change)		May-2025 to May-2026
(% change)
Seasonally adjusted80,635.51.35.5
Trend80,198.10.35.1

Household spending by category

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms household spending increased for all the nine spending categories. The largest increases were in:

  • clothing and footwear (+2.7%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+2.2%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+1.9%).

Goods and services spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on goods rose 0.1% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on:

  • food
  • clothing and footwear
  • goods for recreation and culture.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on services rose 2.6% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on:

  • air passenger and sea transport
  • other services
  • catering services.

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on discretionary goods and services rose 2.1% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on:

  • air passenger and sea transport
  • other services
  • catering services.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on non discretionary goods and services fell 0.2% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on:

  • motoring goods.

State and territory spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending increased for seven of the eight states and territories. The strongest increases were in:

  • Western Australia (+2.6%)
  • Northern Territory (+2.1%)
  • Victoria (+1.7%).

In Western Australia, the household spending categories that drove the rise for the month were:

  • transport (+7.0%)
  • alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+2.4%)
  • food (+2.1%).

In the Northern Territory, the household spending categories that drove the rise for the month were:

  • miscellaneous goods and services (+4.9%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+3.5%)
  • food (+2.6%).

In Victoria, the household spending categories that drove the rise for the month were:

  • clothing and footwear (+3.5%)
  • transport (+3.0%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+2.6%).

 

State household spending by category, percentage change from previous month, current price, seasonally adjusted (%)
 NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACT
Food0.81.70.41.22.10.92.60.5
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco0.51.21.11.32.4-0.10.80.9
Clothing and footwear2.83.52.91.80.90.81.72.5
Furnishings and household equipment0.60.31.60.90.40.81.6-0.1
Health0.60.0-0.41.31.1-0.8-6.70.3
Transport-1.43.00.63.27.0-7.11.9-0.9
Recreation and culture-0.11.01.21.21.50.91.80.8
Hotels, cafes and restaurants1.71.92.21.81.53.23.51.5
Miscellaneous goods and services3.02.61.51.11.60.24.91.5
Total0.71.71.11.62.6-0.52.10.6

 

Data downloads

Monthly Household Spending Indicator Data Cubes

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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.

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Monthly Household Spending Indicator - Monthly and quarterly percentage changes and household spending estimates

Methodology

Scope

  • Final consumption of goods and services by Australian households.
  • Guided by the UNSD’s COICOP classification and aligned with National Accounts HFCE categories and concepts.

Geography

Data is available for:

  • Australia Total.
  • States and territories.

Source

Aggregated, de-identified bank card transactions data provided to the ABS from participating banks. Also collected are supermarket transactions and new vehicle sales data.

Collection method

Participating banks send transactions data soon after the end of each calendar month. Supermarkets send weekly transactions files, and VFACTS is received as a monthly delivery from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

Concepts, sources and methods

Household consumption is categorised to COICOP Divisions. Outputs from 9 COICOPs and all states and territories are published. Data is benchmarked to annual HFCE and adjusted monthly to cover data gaps such as cash spending.

 

History of changes

December 2025: 

  • Complete monthly CPI changes incorporated into the price deflators used to produce quarterly chain volume estimates of household spending
View full methodology

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