09.02.202600:42:01UTC+00Australia Personal Spending Unexpectedly Declines

In December 2025, household spending in Australia experienced a decline of 0.4% compared to the previous month, reversing a 1.0% increase seen in November and falling short of market expectations for a 0.2% rise. This marked the first monthly decrease since March 2024, highlighting the effects of rising costs and high interest rates. Spending decreased across several categories, including food (-0.4% compared to 0.6% in November), clothing (-2.4% compared to 2.5%), furnishings (-1.7% compared to 2.4%), health (-1.3% compared to 0.4%), recreation (-0.5% compared to 2.0%), and miscellaneous items (-0.9% compared to 0.2%). However, spending increased for alcoholic beverages (2.0% compared to -1.8%), transport (0.6% matching the previous month), and hotels and restaurants (0.5% compared to 1.2%). On a regional basis, expenditures decreased in New South Wales (-0.6%), Victoria (-1.0%), and Western Australia (-0.3%), while increases were observed in Queensland (0.2%), South Australia (0.3%), the Northern Territory (2.9%), and Tasmania (0.1%). Annually, household spending grew by 5.0%, the slowest rate in four months, following a 6.0% increase in November.