New South Wales was the only state to record a lift in fashion spending – albeit small – in September this year compared to the month prior.
This is according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which shows fashion spending was down 0.6 per cent in month-on-month terms.
In NSW, fashion spending lifted by just 0.1 per cent. The other seven states and territories recorded falls in fashion spending, starting with Western Australia (down 0.1 per cent), Queensland (down 0.7 per cent), South Australia (down 0.8 per cent), Victoria (down 1.2 per cent), Tasmania (down 1.9 per cent), Northern Territory (down 2 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (down 2.1 per cent).
Fashion was the only category to record falls in seven out of eight states and territories, in month-on-month spending terms, with alcoholic beverages and tobacco down across six states, with one state flat.
This comes as overall household spending lifted just 0.2 per cent in September, up from a flat result in August, followed by a 0.4 per cent rise in July.
“Spending on non-discretionary items drove the overall rise, as households spent more on food, health, and petrol,” ABS head of business statistics Tom Lay said.
“Discretionary spending was flat for September, with higher spending on recreation and culture being offset by falls for air travel and accommodation.”
Four of the nine spending categories rose in September. The rises were led by recreation and culture (up 1.1 per cent), health (up 0.7 per cent) and food (up 0.6 per cent).
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco had the largest percentage fall (down 0.8 per cent), and it’s worth noting this series captures legal purchases of cigarettes and tobacco products, and does not include purchases of illicit tobacco.
In annual terms, fashion spending grew 3.5 per cent, hitting $2.89 billion in the month of September. This is just ahead of food retailing which had the smallest percentage rise of 2.4 per cent, but which equally had the second-highest dollar value increase of $350 million.
In dollar value terms, fashion spending growth was the second-lowest, lifting by $100 million. Department stores and large online retailers had the lowest dollar value growth of just $60 million.
Miscellaneous goods and services (up 8.7 per cent) and health (up 8.1 per cent) had the largest growth rates in the 12 months to September.
Services spending was 7.2 per cent higher than September 2024, while goods spending was up 3.4 per cent compared with last year.
Household spending grew in four of the eight states and territories in year-on-year terms.
New South Wales (0.8 per cent) and South Australia (up 0.6 per cent) recorded the largest growth rates in overall household spending, while the Australian Capital Territory (down 2.4 per cent) had the biggest fall.
The new ABS data also includes quarterly household spending volumes, which rose 0.2 per cent (seasonally adjusted) in the September quarter 2025.
“Household spending volumes rose for the fifth quarter in a row,” Lay said.
“Non-discretionary categories such as health and food drove the rise, increasing by 1.8 per cent and 1.1 per cent in the September 2025 quarter.”
Household spending volumes rose 2.7 per cent compared to the September 2024 quarter, which is the strongest annual growth since the March 2024 quarter.
In quarter-on-quarter terms, fashion spending grew 0.8 per cent, following a slump of 1.9 per cent in the June 2025 quarter, and flat growth in the March 2025 quarter.