Australia Personal Spending Growth Accelerates

Household spending in Australia rose 0.5% month-over-month in July 2025, quickening from a downwardly revised 0.3% in the previous month and marking the third consecutive monthly increase. Growth was led by stronger expenditure on miscellaneous goods and services (1.5% vs 0.5% in June), alongside rebounds in health (1.8% vs -0.1%), transport (1.5% vs -0.7%), and hospitality (1.4% vs -0.5%). In contrast, spending slowed on recreation (0.2% vs 0.9%) and fell across key categories, including food (-0.1% vs 1.2%), alcohol (-1.9% vs -2.6%), clothing (-1.2% vs 1.4%), and furnishings (-1.4% vs 2.0%). Regionally, gains were recorded in Victoria (0.6%), Queensland (0.9%), South Australia (0.9%), Western Australia (1.6%), Tasmania (1.0%), the Northern Territory (2.2%), and the ACT (0.1%), while New South Wales saw a decline (-0.3%). Annually, household spending grew 5.1%, the strongest since November 2023, quickening from June’s downwardly revised 4.6%.