Monthly Household Spending Indicator

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Experimental estimates of household spending

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Reference period
November 2024
Released
10/01/2025
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Release date and time
10/01/2025 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

In November 2024, household spending:

  • Rose 0.4% month-on-month on a current price, seasonally adjusted basis.
  • Rose 2.4% compared with November 2023.

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), and ceasing the Retail Trade publication after the June 2025 reference period. Current price, seasonally adjusted estimates of spending will be introduced for the nine in-scope COICOP Divisions by State and territory in the December 2024 reference month/quarter. For more information, please see MHSI enhancements below or visit the Future cessation of the Retail Business Survey and Retail Trade Publication webpage.

Total Household Spending

Household spending at current prices
 Nov-24 ($ millions)Oct-2024 to Nov-2024 (% change)Nov-2023 to Nov-2024 (% change)
Original79,415.13.92.8
Seasonally Adjusted74,489.40.42.4
Trend74,193.40.22.4

Household Spending by category

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

  • clothing and footwear (+1.8%)
  • recreation and culture (+0.9%)
  • food (+0.8%).

Goods and services spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on goods rose 0.9% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on food, purchase of vehicles, and clothing and footwear.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending on services fell 0.1% month-on-month, driven by decreased spending on motor vehicle repair and maintenance, accommodation services, and air passenger and sea transport.

Discretionary and non-discretionary spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, discretionary spending rose 0.4% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on purchase of vehicles, clothing and footwear, and goods for recreation and culture.

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, non-discretionary spending rose 0.5% month-on-month, driven by increased spending on food, total health services, and motoring goods.

State and territory spending

In seasonally adjusted, current price terms, household spending increased for all states and territories except Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. The strongest increases were in:

  • Queensland (+0.7%)
  • Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia (+0.5%).

Seasonally adjusted estimates by State/territory and by COICOP category are not yet available. The paragraphs and tables below provide a summary of through the year change in spending by State/territory and by COICOP in calendar adjusted terms. 

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

  • Western Australia (+5.9%)
  • Queensland (+3.9%)
  • Northern Territory (+2.3%).

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

  • health (+13.6%)
  • furnishings and household equipment (+8.6%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+8.5%).

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

  • health (+9.2%)
  • miscellaneous goods and services (+6.5%)
  • recreation and culture (+5.7%).

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

  • furnishings and household equipment (+6.6%)
  • hotels, cafes and restaurants (+5.9%)
  • recreation and culture (+3.3%).
State household spending through the year by category, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Food2.52.33.13.05.01.71.91.2
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco-14.0-17.3-12.9-13.5-8.3-5.1-0.5-5.8
Clothing and footwear-1.8-1.03.80.51.81.72.4-0.1
Furnishings and household equipment1.50.25.23.18.64.16.6-2.5
Health4.77.29.25.813.63.22.04.3
Transport-3.20.61.71.44.81.30.3-3.2
Recreation and culture2.90.15.73.36.33.13.3-0.3
Hotels, cafes and restaurants1.86.83.91.04.2-0.65.94.1
Miscellaneous goods and services1.83.36.54.78.55.7-2.42.7
Total0.51.33.91.85.91.82.30.5

 

State household spending through the year by goods/services, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Goods-0.3-1.52.00.93.01.42.0-2.2
Services1.44.45.42.77.62.83.34.3
State household discretionary/non-discretionary spending, through the year, current price, calendar adjusted (%)
 NSWVic.QldSAWATas.NTACT
Discretionary0.90.93.71.85.42.42.31.6
Non Discretionary2.03.33.82.05.81.31.40.7

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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.

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 have been progressively rolled out.  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, by COICOP category and for the four analytical series (Goods, Services, Discretionary and Non-Discretionary).
  • Monthly seasonally adjusted estimates for total spending by State/territory.
  • 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 spending will be introduced for the nine in-scope COICOP Divisions by State and territory in the December 2024 reference month/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.

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 and territories are published. Data is benchmarked to annual HFCE and adjusted monthly to cover data gaps such as cash spending.

 

History of changes

October 2024:

  • Seasonally adjusted current price estimates introduced for total spending by State and territory. 
  • Estimates benchmarked to HFCE up to 2022/23.
  • Method for treating undercoverage updated.
  • See History of changes for more information.
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