Monthly Household Spending Indicator

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Experimental estimates of household spending

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Reference period
September 2024
Released
1/11/2024
  • Next Release 5/12/2024
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, October 2024
  • Next Release 10/01/2025
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, November 2024
  • Next Release 4/02/2025
    Monthly Household Spending Indicator, December 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

In September 2024:

  • Household spending fell 0.1% month-on-month on a current price, seasonally adjusted basis. 
  • In volume terms, the original estimate fell 0.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 

Enhancements 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. A number of changes have taken effect in this month's publication. For more information, please see Changes in this release below or visit the Future cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication webpage.

Total Household Spending

Household spending at current prices
 Sep-24 ($ millions)Aug-2024 to Sep-2024 (% change)Sep-2023 to Sep-2024 (% change)
Original69,044.3-3.30.1
Seasonally Adjusted69,930.4-0.11.3
Trend69,965.00.12.2

Household Spending by category

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms household spending decreased for four out of the nine spending categories. The largest decreases were in:

  • clothing and footwear (-1.8%)
  • transport (-0.6%)
  • recreation and culture (-0.4%).

Goods and services spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms household spending on goods fell 0.4% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on Motoring goods, Purchase of vehicles, Clothing and Footwear, Alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and Goods for recreation and culture.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms household spending on services rose 0.4% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on Accommodation services, Rail and road transport, Air Passenger and sea transport, Motor vehicle repair maintenance and miscellaneous expenditure, and Total health services.

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, discretionary spending fell 0.2% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on Clothing and Footwear, Purchase of Vehicles, Goods for recreation and culture, and Alcoholic beverages.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, non-discretionary spending rose 0.2% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on Rail and road transport, Medicines medical aids and therapeutic appliances, Motor vehicle repair maintenance and miscellaneous expenditure, Food, and Total health services.

State and territory spending

In calendar adjusted, current price terms, household spending increased through the year for six states and territories. The strongest increases were in:

  • Western Australia (+6.0%)
  • Queensland (+3.4%)
  • Northern Territory (+3.2%).

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

  • furnishings and household equipment (+11.3%)
  • health (+9.9%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+9.5%).

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

  • miscellaneous goods and services (+9.2%)
  • health (+7.6%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (+6.7%).

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

  • furnishings and household equipment (+8.1%)
  • clothing and footwear (+6.6%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+6.1%).
State household spending through the year by category, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food3.13.03.02.15.11.23.10.8
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco-12.3-13.3-8.8-11.9-2.9-11.1-5.7-6.7
Clothing and footwear0.0-0.85.10.44.4-0.66.6-4.0
Furnishings and household equipment3.12.16.74.111.34.48.1-1.9
Health8.44.87.66.79.90.9-8.37.0
Transport-7.5-11.2-3.71.91.6-5.52.8-7.3
Recreation and culture2.50.25.83.78.04.54.6-0.7
Hotels, cafes and restaurants4.00.35.24.37.24.16.10.4
Miscellaneous goods and services10.83.59.29.09.56.94.29.5
Total1.3-1.33.42.96.00.63.2-0.1

 

State household spending through the year by goods/services, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Goods-2.1-2.81.7-0.34.2-1.64.3-4.8
Services4.80.95.37.18.62.62.52.8
State household discretionary/non-discretionary spending, through the year, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Discretionary-0.5-4.03.33.26.20.85.5-3.8
Non Discretionary2.71.03.61.95.90.20.01.9

Quarterly Household Spending

In original, volume terms household spending decreased through the year for five of the nine spending categories. The largest decreases were in:

  • alcohol beverages and tobacco (-16.6%)
  • clothing and footwear (-2.7%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (-1.7%).

In original, volume terms household spending decreased through the year for five states and territories. The strongest decreases were in:

  • Victoria (-2.3%)
  • Tasmania (-1.5%)
  • New South Wales (-1.3%).

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Monthly Household Spending Indicator Data Cubes

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 and quarterly percentage changes and household spending estimates

MHSI enhancements

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. Based on user feedback, enhancements to MHSI were introduced in the June 2024 reference period publication.  These improvements provide a more comprehensive view of household consumption, including:

  • 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, nine in-scope COICOP Divisions 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.

Current price, seasonally adjusted estimates of total spending by State and territory will be introduced in the October 2024 reference month. The time series for these estimates will start at the January 2019 month/March 2019 quarter. These will replace the corresponding calendar adjusted series in the time series spreadsheets. 

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.

Changes in this release

In this release, seasonally adjusted current price estimates of spending in Australia have been introduced for the nine in-scope COICOP Divisions. These new estimates replace the corresponding calendar adjusted series in the time series spreadsheets. 

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

  • 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 are published. Data is benchmarked to annual HFCE and adjusted to cover data gaps such as cash spending and non-participating financial institutions.

History of changes

  • Seasonally adjusted current price estimates of spending introduced for the nine in-scope COICOP Divisions in the September 2024 reference month/quarter. See more History of changes. 
View full methodology

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