Australia’s retail sales and building approvals data for December 2024 presented a mixed picture of economic activity, revealing an increase in construction approvals and a slight dip in consumer spending.
Building approvals increased by 0.7% in December, following a 3.4% decline in the previous month.
Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said: "The overall rise in December was driven by 15.2% growth in private dwellings excluding houses. Approvals for private sector houses fell for the third straight month, down 3%."
In value terms, total residential building approvals fell 0.9% to $8.33 billion, while non-residential building approvals saw a strong 9.7% rise to $6.62 billion.
State-level data showed mixed results in the construction sector. New South Wales recorded the highest increase in total dwelling approvals at 19.1%, followed by Queensland at 4.2% and South Australia at 2.7%. Western Australia fell 12.8%, Victoria lost 11.7%, and Tasmania declined 2.6%.
Private sector house approvals fell across most states, except for New South Wales, which recorded a 2.9% increase.
Meanwhile, retail sales eased by 0.1% month-on-month in December. Markets were expecting a decline of 0.7%.
In volume terms, sales rose 1% for the December quarter. While household goods retailing recorded a strong 1.6% rise, led by a 2.9% increase in electrical and electronic goods, the clothing, footwear, and personal accessories segment declined sharply by 1.8%. Food retailing edged up 0.1%, but supermarket and grocery store sales dropped by 0.4%.
Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: “Retail spending held firm following strong growth in recent months with promotional activity stretched across the quarter.
“Cyber Monday fell in early December and boosted spending to begin the month, particularly on discretionary items like furniture, homewares, electronics and electrical items.”
Online shopping saw a notable surge, with total online retail sales reaching $4.41 billion, up 4.2% from November and 12.7% higher year-on-year. However, the proportion of online sales to total retailing fell from 13.1% in November to 11.6% in December, indicating a return to pre-holiday spending patterns.
