Household Spending — methodology

What this metric measures

Total monthly household spending across all categories in Australia, seasonally adjusted. Based on aggregated bank card transaction data from major Australian banks. Replaced the ABS Retail Trade publication (ceased June 2025).

Why it matters: Household spending is the largest component of GDP. A sustained decline signals households are pulling back, which flows through to business revenue, employment, and tax receipts.

Source & provenance

Publisher

ABS

Update frequency

monthly

Licence

CC BY 4.0

How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Higher is better

Trend window

60 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "red_max_pct_of_baseline": 95,
  "amber_min_pct_of_baseline": 95,
  "green_min_pct_of_baseline": 102
}