Jacqui Vitas, head of macro-economic statistics at the ABS, said the largest increases were for spending on recreation and culture (17.8 per cent), clothing and footwear (15.2 per cent) and transport (12.5 per cent).
“In fact, Household spending increased in seven of the nine spending categories in March 2022, compared to March 2021. The only categories with decreased spending were alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-16.5 per cent) and health (-2.3 per cent),” Ms Vitas said.
All states and territories saw increases in household spending in March 2022, compared with March 2021. Victoria (8.5 per cent) and Queensland (8.5 per cent) saw the strongest increases in spending throughout the year.
At a state level, Victoria and Queensland both posted 8.5 per cent increases in household spending throughout the year, indicating the unwinding of COVID-19 restrictions in two states that have each been heavily impacted by the virus.
Western Australia posted the smallest increase in household spending at just 4 per cent as it introduced fresh COVID-19 restrictions even as other states were dropping theirs.
Western Australia opened its borders for travel from interstate and overseas visitors at the beginning of March, but with the opening of the borders, new mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and venue capacity limits were introduced.
Compared to pre-pandemic January 2020 estimates, total household spending was 8.8 per cent higher in current price, calendar-adjusted terms.
The strongest increases were in health (up 24.2 per cent), clothing and footwear (up 19.5 per cent) and recreation and culture (up 15.0 per cent). Household spending on hotels, cafes and restaurants was 5.4 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
