The Furniture and Floor Covering Wholesaling industry has experienced challenging conditions over the past five years. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, a surge in household discretionary income and a jump in housing construction under the Federal HomeBuilder scheme and record-low interest rates boosted sales to downstream furniture and floor covering retailers. However, mortgage interest rate hikes and falling household discretionary have deteriorated conditions in the retail and housing markets since 2021-22, which has driven down sales of household furniture and floor coverings. Spending on commercial and institutional furniture, shop fittings and resilient flooring stalled following the COVID-19 outbreak but has rebounded since pandemic restrictions were lifted and the labour force has expanded. Still, more Australians have been working and studying from home, containing sales in the commercial furnishing market. Improved sales to non-residential property markets over recent years have been insufficient to offset the slump in sales to the household market, which has tightened wholesalers’ profit margins. Industry revenue is expected to have declined at an annualised 2.0% over the five years through 2024-25 to $6.1 billion, which includes an anticipated 2.8% contraction in 2024-25. Growing wholesale bypass is constraining the industry's performance over the long term, as retailers deal directly with manufacturers and importers to reduce their spending. The explosion in online retailing has also distorted the industry's supply chain. In response to these challenges, some wholesalers have established an online presence and expanded their capacity to sell directly to the public through ecommerce channels. The industry will continue grappling with wholesale bypass over the coming years, discouraging the entry of new enterprises. Still, wholesalers will benefit from recovering retail sales of household furniture and flooring products, supported by an upswing in new housing construction and improved consumer sentiment. Apartment and townhouse construction will surge to meet mounting population pressures, underpinning sales of more compact lounge and bedroom furnishings. Industry revenue is projected to expand at an annualised 0.9% over the five years through 2029-30 to $6.4 billion.

In 2024, Asahi Group held a ** percent share of the Australian mainstream beer market segment. Asahi, which purchased Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) in 2020, dominated all segments of the beer market alongside fellow Japanese beverage holding company Kirin, which manufactures popular beers such as XXXX, Tooheys, and Furphy. Carlton & United Breweries' beer portfolio includes mainstream brands such as Foster's, Great Northern, Victoria Bitter (VB), and Carlton. Beer retailing in Australia After wine, beer is Australia’s second most consumed alcoholic beverage, with over ** percent of the legal-age population drinking beer in the 12 months to March 2023. In terms of brick-and-mortar retailing, off-premise beer sales, encompassing sales conducted through liquor stores, accounted for over ************** of the country’s beer sales volume by distribution channel in 2024. On-premise beer sales conducted through, for example, bars, pubs, and restaurants, accounted for the remaining *******. While Australia’s online alcohol retailing has increased in recent years, it lags behind in the wake of calls for online alcohol retailing reforms to prevent the delivery of alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons. Regarding beer companies, Kirin and Asahi are in the lead, with lager brand Foster's, operating under Asahi Group, ranked second among the most valuable alcohol brands in Australia in 2023. Is no/low alcohol craft beer gaining traction? New South Wales is home to just under a ***** of Australia's craft beer consumers, with full-strength beer the most popular type consumed. Nonetheless, low-alcohol and alcohol-free craft beer consumption has been growing, fueled by a rise in consumer alcohol-moderating behaviors, with alcohol-free craft beer consumption doubling in 2022 from 2020 figures. With consumers welcoming no- and low-alcohol products within the Australian beer market, non-alcoholic beers are becoming serious contenders that could disrupt the commercial beer market.

As of January 2023, there were approximately 285 thousand registered motorcycles in New South Wales, Australia. In total, more than 965 thousand motorcycles were registered in Australia that year. Sale of vehicles in Australia In December 2020, total passenger and commercial vehicle sales in Australia were estimated to be 95.65 thousand. This reflected an increase in vehicle sales in April 2020. That year, the country's passenger and commercial vehicle sales totaled nearly 917 thousand. The total number of registered vehicles in Australia will exceed 20 million by 2022. The number of registered passenger vehicles in Australia was the highest that year, followed by light commercial vehicles. Average emission intensity among vehicles In 2020, the average emissions intensity of diesel vehicles in Australia was approximately 178 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. This represented a decrease from the previous year. The average emissions intensity of diesel vehicles was higher than that of petrol vehicles. As of 2020, new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Australia emitted an average of 217 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. This year's emissions were higher than the previous years.