Consumers remain in a spending mood, but there’s been a clear reduction in the rate at which their spending has been increasing.
Households spent 6.0% more in April than the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
That compares to 29.1% through-the-year growth in August 2022.
“This is mainly due to lower growth in spending on consumer services, like holiday travel and eating out, which continues to normalise following the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the ABS’s head of business indicators, Kate Lamb.
The April data also revealed the continuation of another trend, with growth in services spending (8.4%) exceeding goods spending (3.6%).
Throughout the pandemic year of 2020, spending on goods increased, while spending on services decreased. Since early 2021, spending has consistently increased for both categories – but at a faster rate for services.