Australian household spending declined 1.1% month‑on‑month in April 2026, but rose 4.9% compared with April 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. Total spending reached $79.4 billion in current‑price, seasonally adjusted terms. The fall was driven by lower expenditures in transport (‑4.7 %), clothing and footwear (‑2.2 %) and food (‑1.3 %). Within goods, declines were most pronounced in motoring goods, food and clothing and footwear. In services, reductions were largest for air passenger and sea transport, rail and road transport, and other services. Discretionary goods and services fell 0.8%, driven by lower spending on air passenger and sea transport, clothing and footwear and other services, while non‑discretionary spending fell 1.7%, driven by lower motoring goods, food and rail and road transport. State‑level figures showed the largest declines in Western Australia (‑1.9 %), Victoria (‑1.5 %) and South Australia (‑1.2 %). Western Australia’s drop was led by transport (‑8.1 %), food (‑2.9 %) and miscellaneous goods and services (‑0.8 %).
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This article is a summary of content originally published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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