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A surprising shift in spending trends saw renters lead annual household spending growth in April, according to the latest CommBank Household Spending Insights (HSI) Index.
While renters have typically recorded the weakest growth over the past two years, they posted a 2.4 per cent increase in annual spending last month. This was followed by those with a mortgage (up 2.2 per cent), while outright home owners recorded the slowest growth at just 0.7 per cent.
“Renters in particular have increased discretionary spending which suggests that while consumers are making cutbacks in some areas, many are still making trade-offs and allocating a share of their wallet to areas like hospitality and recreation and more so in April given the additional public holidays,” said CBA senior economist Belinda Allen.
The overall HSI Index rose by 0.2 per cent in April — a modest lift after a soft first quarter of consumer spending in 2025.
Seven out of 12 categories recorded growth during the month, with insurance (up 1.6 per cent), hospitality (up 1.4 per cent), and communications and digital (up 0.7 per cent) seeing the biggest increases.
The boost in hospitality spending was likely driven by the Easter–Anzac Day ‘super holiday’ period. April also included the lead-up to the federal election, recovery from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and newly announced tariffs by the Trump administration.
Spending on utilities dropped the most, falling 2.0 per cent, with declines across electricity, gas, water, and council services. Transport (down 0.8 per cent), education (down 0.7 per cent), and household services (down 0.7 per cent) also recorded falls.
“Another soft month for household spending reinforces our view that a slower than expected consumer recovery is unfolding. This trend, along with global economic uncertainty, led us to recently downgrade our Australian GDP forecast for 2025,” Allen said.
“While moderating inflation, February’s RBA rate cut and lower utility and petrol bills are improving purchasing power, households clearly remain deliberate with their spending choices. The recent pause of additional tariffs between the U.S. and China could improve sentiment going forward, however we expect it will take additional interest rates cuts to improve momentum in consumer spending.
“We maintain our call for the RBA to cut rates by 25 basis points next week, with a forecast end of year cash rate of 3.35 per cent.”
Queensland recorded the strongest household spending growth of all states and territories in April, rising 0.8 per cent. This follows a weak result in March, when the state posted the lowest growth nationally at just 0.2 per cent due to the impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
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