Australian household spending ticked higher in June, with goods driving the rise while services slipped, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
Household spending rose 0.5% in June, following a 1% rise in May and a flat April result.
“People buying more goods drove the overall rise in household spending in June,” Robert Ewing (pictured left), ABS head of business statistics, said in a media release.
“Goods spending rose 1.3% as households spent more on food, new vehicles, and electronics. Meanwhile, spending on services fell by 0.5%, after two months of growth.”
Six of the nine spending categories rose in June, led by:
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-2.4%), hotels, cafes and restaurants (-0.8%), and health (-0.3%) were the only categories that fell. Transport spending also softened (-0.5%), according to Westpac’s breakdown, showing not all discretionary activity picked up.
Household spending was 4.8% higher than June 2024, driven by recreation and culture (+7.9%), food (+7.5%), and health (+7.2%). Services spending grew 6.6% annually, nearly double the 3.4% growth in goods.
Household spending volumes rose 0.7% in the June quarter 2025, the third consecutive quarterly gain, following a 0.5% rise in Q1 (revised from 0.0%) and 1.4% in Q4 2024.
“Household spending volumes rose for the third consecutive quarter, reflecting a steady improvement in consumer confidence as price pressures eased over the past year,” Ewing said.
Discretionary categories led quarterly volume growth, with recreation and culture (+1.8%) and hotels, cafes and restaurants (+1.6%) the strongest.
Household spending rose in seven of eight states and territories in June.
ABS also reported that household spending volumes rose 0.7% in the June 2025, the third consecutive quarterly increase.
“Household spending volumes rose for the third consecutive quarter, reflecting a steady improvement in consumer confidence as price pressures eased over the past year,” Ewing said.
Quarterly gains were led by discretionary categories, including:
Westpac economist Neha Sharma (pictured right) said the monthly increase was below market expectations of 0.8%.
“The household spending indicator rose 0.5%mth in June, with May revised higher to 1%mth,” Sharma said in Westpac’s latest Household Spending Indicator report. “These solid back-to-back increases lifted annual growth to 4.8%yr – the fastest pace since early-2024.”
Sharma noted that goods spending led the gains at 1.3%, while services dipped 0.5%.
“Nominal spending rose 1.0%qtr in Q2, with real spending (volumes) up a solid 0.7%qtr,” Sharma said, adding that Q1 volumes were revised to 0.5%qtr, signalling a tentative recovery in per-capita spending.
For mortgage brokers, the spending lift reflects improving consumer confidence and easing price pressures, but Westpac cautions that part of the rebound may be tied to one-off sales events rather than a broad, sustained recovery.
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