Australians have one of the highest average wages globally, hovering constantly among the top three countries in the world.
A reality that will be very evident this Christmas, says the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).
Australia’s largest national retail body, in collaboration with Roy Morgan Research, has upped its original 2022 Christmas spending forecast by a hefty $2 billion above its earlier $64 billion figure to a record $66 billion – up 6.4 per cent on last year’s spend.
Price increases and higher food and hospitality spending have played a major part in raising retail spending expectations, says Paul Zahra, CEO of the ARA.
“Aussies truly plan to eat, drink and be merry this Christmas. It’s no surprise we are seeing a shift towards food and entertaining with the holiday period over the past two years spent in the shadow of lockdowns.”
NSW will be leading the festive season splurge with an estimated spend of $20.8 billion – up 7.7 per cent – followed by Victoria at $17.1 billion – up 5.5 per cent. Queensland fills the third slot with a predicted spend of $13.5 billion (+6.8%), followed by WA at $7.2 billion (+5.6%), South Australia at $4.1 billion (+6.6%), Tasmania at $1.324 billion (+5.6%), ACT at $1.22 billion (+5.9%) and the Northern Territory at $586 million (+2.9%).
Food tops the category rankings with a $25.4 billion forecast spend – a rise of 4.3 per cent. Clothing/fashion is expected to bring in $5.5 billion (+3.9%) and department stores are predicted to see a 5.9 per cent hike in sales of $3.4 billion.
Other Retailing, including beauty, is expected to see the cash registers totting up the moolah to the tune of $10.07 billion – up 3.2 per cent.
Read the current issue of our digital magazine below:
- For more news and updates, subscribe to our weekly newsletter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Like us on Facebook
- Connect with us on LinkedIn