According to a survey conducted among adults in Australia in 2024, 67 percent of the respondents surveyed in September believed that the cost of living is the chief issue that Australia is facing. This represented a two percent increase in those citing the cost of living as the main issue compared to February of the same year.

According to a survey conducted among adults in Australia in September 2024, 28 percent of the respondents said that the Coalition is the most capable in managing the cost of living in the country. In comparison, 27 percent of the surveyed adults claimed that the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is most capable at managing the cost of living in Australia.

In an April 2024 conducted survey regarding Australian shopper perceptions of cost of living, almost 70 percent of respondents indicated that they felt grocery and related products were more expensive than in the previous year.

In an April 2024 conducted survey regarding Australian shopper perceptions of cost of living, around 58 percent of respondents indicated that they felt the pricing of groceries and related products were unfair. Only around a quarter of those surveyed felt that grocery products were fairly priced.

The house price-to-income ratio in Australia was 122.1 as of the third quarter of 2024. This ratio, calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head, increased from the previous quarter. The price-to-income ratio can be used to measure housing affordability in a specific area. Australia's property bubble There has been considerable debate over the past decade about whether Australia is in a property bubble or not. A property bubble refers to a sharp increase in the price of property that is disproportional to income and rental prices, followed by a decline. In Australia, rising house prices have undoubtedly been an issue for many potential homeowners, pricing them out of the market. Along with the average house price, high mortgage interest rates have exacerbated the issue. Is the homeownership dream out of reach? Housing affordability has varied across the different states and territories in Australia. In 2024, the median value of residential houses was the highest in Sydney compared to other major Australian cities, with Brisbane becoming an increasingly expensive city. Nonetheless, expected interest rate cuts in 2025, alongside the expansion of initiatives to improve Australia's dwelling stock, social housing supply, and first-time buyer accessibility to properties, may start to improve the situation. These encompass initiatives such as the Australian government's Help to Buy scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) programs.

The Woolworths Group in Australia recognized total food sales of around 50 billion Australian dollars in financial year 2024. This represented an increase from the previous year and a continuing upward trend since 2015. Headquartered in New South Wales, Australia, the Woolworths Group is an Australian retail and finance company known for its operation of Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia and New Zealand, as well as BIG W department stores. Australia’s supermarket landscape Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and Metcash (IGA) dominate Australia’s grocery retail market, with Woolworths holding a market share of over 35 percent. Its primary competitor, the Coles Group, followed with a market share of around 28 percent. Over the past decade, the annual revenue of supermarkets and grocery stores in Australia has witnessed steady growth, with the industry remaining resilient throughout the pandemic. Are food prices spiraling out of control? Grocery price inflation has been a key topic of contention over the past few years in Australia, with almost 45 percent of households citing grocery expenses as a source of stress in a 2023 survey. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of grocery products in Australia rose across most categories in the year to March 2024, with bread and cereal items seeing an annual growth of 7.2 percent. To save money, many grocery shoppers nationwide hunt for deals and switch between different supermarkets to buy certain products. Nonetheless, it cannot all be left down to the consumers. In January 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced it would conduct an inquiry into the country’s supermarket sector to examine pricing and competitive practices among major retailers, including Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi, to ensure Australians are paying fair prices for groceries. The profit margins of Woolworths and Coles increased in 2023 despite the cost-of-living crisis, with some consumers viewing this as evidence of inflationary profiteering. Alongside the ACCC inquiry, the government planned to provide funding to consumer advocacy group CHOICE to create price transparency and comparison reports to provide detailed information to customers to help them save money amid excessive price increases.

In an April 2024 conducted survey regarding Australian shopper perceptions of cost of living, around 57 percent of respondents indicated that they were spending more on groceries and related products compared to the previous year. Around 30 percent of those surveyed said they were spending about the same on grocery products as they had in the previous year.

Subway was the leading quick service restaurant (QSR) found on food delivery platforms in Australia, with over 3,250 online restaurants across various platforms as of 2022. McDonald’s and KFC were also fighting for the top spot, but had slightly fewer online restaurants on major meal delivery platforms. Nonetheless, McDonald's and KFC may have a greater overall presence due to offering delivery through their own websites, not just exclusively on meal delivery websites and apps. Quick service restaurants in Australia QSRs are popular among Australian consumers. As of 2024, New South Wales was Australia’s fast food chain hub, home to the highest number of Subway, McDonald’s, and Domino’s stores across Australia. While fast food remains popular, many Australian consumers have higher sustainability expectations of QSRs. In a recent survey, more than half of respondents indicated that they would like quick service restaurants to donate unused food to charities, and some were willing to pay more at food establishments engaging in this practice. Fast food establishments using recyclable packaging and local produce were also more appealing to customers across the country. Dining out behavior in Australia In response to cost-of-living pressures across Australia, several consumers dine out at restaurants less. South Australians intended to cut back on visits to food establishments the most, followed by Western Australians and Queenslanders. With a rise in sustainability consciousness surrounding takeout among Australians, over half of consumers indicated that they wanted to order in less due to higher costs. Many customers also said that receiving complimentary drinks or starters and personalized offers could boost their loyalty toward particular food establishments, despite cost-of-living pressures.

This statistic shows the results of a survey into the public perception of the biggest problems facing the country in Australia in July 2024. During the survey, 63 percent of respondents said they thought the most important problem facing Australia today was the cost of living in the country.

Trading conditions have been anything but plush for floor covering retailers. Mounting competition and volatile residential building construction activity have made it harder for stores to post a sale. However, it hasn't all been bad news, as the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled a spike in demand for floor coverings in the early part of the five years through 2024-25. The post-pandemic environment has presented new issues for floor covering retailers. A surge in inflation and higher interest rates have intensified cost-of-living pressures, causing consumer sentiment and discretionary income to tumble. At the same time, residential building construction has been derailed, with demand declining consecutively over the three years through 2023-24. Industry revenue is expected to have been falling at an annualised 1.1% over the past five years to $4.0 billion. This includes an anticipated climb of 1.2% in 2024-25. Going forwards, industry revenue is forecast to grow at an annualised 2.0% over the five years through 2029-30, to $4.4 billion. Improved economic conditions are set to fuel an upswing in population numbers and higher overall net migration. Increased residential building construction activity will boost demand for housing and, in turn, new floor coverings. Easing inflationary pressures will propel a dip in the official cash rate, reigniting consumers’ interest in home building. However, competition from hardware and building supplies retailers and online-only sites is set to ramp up as external retailers vie for a larger share of the floor coverings market. Nonetheless, floor covering retailers are set to remain profitable, as an appreciation of the Australian dollar makes international purchases more affordable for retailers.

A survey conducted in November 2023 revealed that the price of groceries was the leading financial concern among Australian consumers at around 20 percent of respondents. Rent prices and mortgage interest rate movements were the next most prevalent cause of financial worries among those surveyed.

Black Friday sales continue to be a major shopping event in Australia, with clothing emerging as the top intended spending category for 2024. A survey conducted in October 2024 revealed that over 55 percent of Australian consumers planned to purchase clothes during the sales period, with Christmas gifts and electronics and tech products revealed as the next most prominent categories consumers intended to shop from. Nonetheless, due to cost-of-living pressures, shopping for household essentials, such as toilet paper and cleaning products, has also become more popular during the four-day sales period. Several respondents also planned to use the sales to book travel experiences and accommodation.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in Australia from 1987 to 2022, with projections up until 2029. The inflation rate is calculated using the price increase of a defined product basket. This product basket contains products and services, on which the average consumer spends money throughout the year. They include expenses for groceries, clothes, rent, power, telecommunications, recreational activities and raw materials (e.g. gas, oil), as well as federal fees and taxes. In 2022, the average inflation rate in Australia was at about 6.61 percent compared to the previous year.

Australia's economy

Australia has one of the world’s largest economies and is a significant global importer and exporter. It is also labeled as one of the G20 countries, also known as the Group of Twenty, which consists of 20 major economies around the globe. The Australian economy is highly dependent on its mining sector as well as its agricultural sector in order to grow, and it exports the majority of these goods to eastern Asian countries, most prominently China. Large quantities of exports have helped Australia maintain a stable economy and furthered economic expansion, despite being affected by several economic obstacles.

Australia’s GDP has seen a significant increase over the past decade, more than doubling its value, and experienced a rather quick recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, which indicates that the country experienced economic growth as well as higher productivity. One of the primary reasons is the further development of the nation’s mining industry coupled with the expansion and success of many Australian mining companies.

Australian consumers geared up for a robust pre-Christmas shopping season in 2024. Total expenditures were forecast to reach almost 70 billion Australian dollars, marking a 2.7 percent increase from 2023’s pre-Christmas sales expectations. The food category was anticipated to lead the way with projected spending of around 28 billion dollars, followed by the household goods segment. Conversely, department stores were expected to bring in the lowest spending, contracting by around 1.5 percent from the previous year. Holiday season sales: just for celebrations or a chance to stock up? Australia’s shoppers are increasingly aware of and participating in various sales events to capitalize on bargain gifts for their loved ones and festive food in the run-up to Christmas. Not only are they in the festive spirit, but they are harnessing discounts to stock up on essentials amid cost-of-living pressures. During the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, Australians were set to spend a record-breaking 6.7 billion Australian dollars, up by about 5.5 percent from 2023’s forecast for the four-day promotional period. While Black Friday takes the reins during the holiday season sales, post-Christmas sales events like Boxing Day also provide retailers with an end-of-year revenue boost and a chance to clear inventory before the New Year. Where are Australians making their festive purchases? As the holiday season approaches, Australian consumers increasingly turn to online platforms for their Christmas shopping needs. In a July 2024 survey, nearly 70 percent of respondents planned to purchase gifts from online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. This shift towards e-commerce is further supported by the convenience it offers, with around one-fifth of consumers citing avoiding the in-store holiday rush as a key benefit of online shopping during the festive period. Nevertheless, in-store shopping experiences remain valuable. The ability to see and touch products remains the primary reason for conducting Christmas shopping in physical stores, with around 40 percent of surveyed consumers valuing this aspect, alongside getting inspiration for gifts and avoiding shipping costs. This preference for shopping in brick-and-mortar locations is particularly strong in certain categories, such as festive food.

According to a survey conducted among Australian consumers in 2024, Gen X consumers expected to spend the most across the generational cohorts on Christmas gifts, at an average of around 603 Australian dollars. Millennials had the lowest planned expenditure for Christmas presents, averaging at around 533 Australian dollars. The overall average planned expenditure on Christmas gifts among Australians had dropped from 2023, with consumers reining in their budgets as cost of living continued to bite.

At 8.07 U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the July 2024 Big Mac index. Concurrently, the cost of a Big Mac was 5.69 dollars in the U.S., and 6.06 U.S. dollars in the Euro area. What is the Big Mac index? The Big Mac index, published by The Economist, is a novel way of measuring whether the market exchange rates for different countries’ currencies are overvalued or undervalued. It does this by measuring each currency against a common standard – the Big Mac hamburger sold by McDonald’s restaurants all over the world. Twice a year the Economist converts the average national price of a Big Mac into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate at that point in time. As a Big Mac is a completely standardized product across the world, the argument goes that it should have the same relative cost in every country. Differences in the cost of a Big Mac expressed as U.S. dollars therefore reflect differences in the purchasing power of each currency. Is the Big Mac index a good measure of purchasing power parity? Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the idea that items should cost the same in different countries, based on the exchange rate at that time. This relationship does not hold in practice. Factors like tax rates, wage regulations, whether components need to be imported, and the level of market competition all contribute to price variations between countries. The Big Mac index does measure this basic point – that one U.S. dollar can buy more in some countries than others. There are more accurate ways to measure differences in PPP though, which convert a larger range of products into their dollar price. Adjusting for PPP can have a massive effect on how we understand a country’s economy. The country with the largest GDP adjusted for PPP is China, but when looking at the unadjusted GDP of different countries, the U.S. has the largest economy.

Due to Australia’s size and relatively low population density, domestic travel for a holiday, business, or visiting family and friends often involves long hours of driving or a domestic airline flight. Nevertheless, in the year ended December 2024, Australians spent millions of nights away from home on domestic travel trips, with the most popular accommodation type being with friends or relatives. The second most popular choice of accommodation was at a hotel, resort, motel, or motor inn.  Holidaying close to home  With the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, many Australians were forced to cancel international travel plans or look to domestic options for a holiday. Furthermore, many states and territories also imposed border closures, restricting interstate travel as well. New South Wales was the most popular state for domestic travel, boasting popular holiday locations like the Hunter Valley, Mudgee, and the Southern Highlands for wine and food tourism, as well as many popular coastal destinations such as Byron Bay in the north and Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast. Although the state of NSW proved to be a popular destination for domestic tourism, it was the Victorian capital, Melbourne, that was the most popular city to visit in 2018. The travel budget Compared to some other popular international tourist destinations for Australians, traveling within Australia is not always the cheapest option for a holiday. Flights across the country can cost as much as a flight to New Zealand, Fiji, or South East Asia and the cost of domestic accommodation, food, and activities is often higher than comparable services in countries where the cost of living is generally lower. Overall, in 2022, domestic visitor expenditure in Australia totaled almost 102 billion Australian dollars.

Australia's café and restaurant scene continues to thrive, with New South Wales leading the way with over 19,225 establishments in operation at the end of the 2024 financial year. The second-leading state in terms of the number of cafés and restaurants was Victoria. As Australia's two largest states in terms of population, the concentration of food service establishments in New South Wales and Victoria mirrors Australia's population distribution, reflecting the urban-centric nature of the country's café and restaurant landscape. Gastronomy: a key economic sector In recent years, the number of cafés and restaurants throughout the country has shown relatively consistent growth, exceeding 55,700 in the 2024 financial year, up from approximately 41,570 in 2017. Australia's cafés, restaurants, and takeaway food services turnover experienced steady annual increases for many years up until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, since 2021, the industry's revenue has been on the recovery, hitting a record of over 65 billion Australian dollars in 2024. Additionally, food services represent a key source of gross value added to the tourism industry. An added boost from coffee Coffee plays an important role in the Australian food service sector, with the beverage topping the list of regularly consumed drinks among Australians in a 2024 survey. Several international chains like McCafé operate alongside popular domestic coffee franchises, including The Coffee Club, in the country. Alongside this, the country's annual domestic coffee consumption remains robust, consistently exceeding two million sixty-kilogram bags in recent years, underscoring the enduring nature of Australia's coffee culture. Nonetheless, recent cost-of-living pressures have led to a shift in consumer behavior, with more Australians opting to brew their coffee at home.

In 2024, Australia imported coffee and coffee substitutes to the value of almost 1.33 billion Australian dollars. Over the past decade, coffee imports to Australia increased significantly from around 813 million Australian dollars’ worth imported in 2015. Australia's coffee consumption Over the years, coffee has become a nationwide obsession that is now part of Australia’s cultural identity. Brands such as Nestlé (Nescafé and Nespresso), Vittoria, and Lavazza, as well as Aldi's own-brand coffee, are some of the most popular brands for beans, instant powders, and capsules among Australia's coffee drinkers. In 2024, annual domestic coffee consumption exceeded two million sixty-kilogram bags. Cappuccinos, lattes, and flat whites are the favorite coffee drinks among consumers in Australia, with cappuccinos the number one coffee across most Australian states. The leading reasons consumers drink coffee are for the taste and to wake up. Nonetheless, some Australians report consuming coffee to relax and unwind. Cafés: another casualty of inflation? The pandemic has changed consumer behavior in many ways across Australia, with coffee consumption no exception to this rule. From Sunday brunch to afternoon coffee dates, buying coffee at cafés is popular among Australians. When choosing which coffee shop to visit, the quality of coffee, as well as affordability, are considered the most important coffee shop attributes among the country’s coffee drinkers. Nonetheless, cost of living pressures have led consumers to rethink their budgets, with several swapping takeout coffees for homemade brews created with their own machines. In the coming years, coffee shops could be hit hard as the pool of café regulars shrinks due to rising coffee drink prices, with a single cup of coffee forecast to reach around 12 Australian dollars by the end of 2025.

Australia's café and restaurant landscape has shown consistent growth in recent years. Over 55,700 cafés and restaurants were in operation across the country at the end of the 2024 financial year, up from approximately 41,570 in 2017. Australia's coffee shop network Not only has the number of cafés and restaurants trended upwards nationwide in recent years, the annual revenue of these venues reached a new peak in 2024. The states of New South Wales and Victoria are home to the majority of Australia's food service establishments, owing to their higher population densities. International café chains such as McCafé and Jack's Café, alongside domestic coffee franchise The Coffee Club, boast the highest number of locations across popular coffee shops in Australia. Still, they rank below cafés like Donut King, Zarraffa's, and Gloria Jean's in terms of overall customer satisfaction. Australia's most beloved beverage Coffee is deeply rooted in the everyday lives of Australians, with the hot beverage coming in as the country's most regularly consumed beverage in a 2024 survey. Several Australians consume the beverage every day or, in some cases, multiple times a day, and the annual domestic consumption of coffee has remained above two million sixty-kilogram bags for the past four years. In particular, cappuccinos and lattes enjoy a high popularity among Australians. Nonetheless, although the country observes high coffee consumption levels, cost-of-living pressures have led to a desire to reduce spending on takeout coffee and the rising intention to consume coffee at home instead of in cafés.