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Petrol prices inflate March spending ahead of expected slowdown

Older Australians and a 23% jump in transport costs pumped up the spending of Australian households in March, but CBA economists say a slowdown is expected.

16 April 2026

HSI Index graphic

Key points 

  • Household spending rose 2.9% in March, driven largely by higher fuel costs. 
  • Transport spending surged 22.9% over the month, while Recreation rose 0.9%, supported by a busy major events calendar.
  • Australians aged 65-plus recorded the fastest annual spending growth at 14.2%. 
  • CBA economists expect a slowdown in household spending as growth in disposable incomes cools off. 

Australian household spending rebounded strongly in March, driven by an increase in petrol prices and a broader lift across all spending categories, the latest CommBank Household Spending Insights (HSI) shows. 

New data also shows a significant split in the spending patterns of different age groups during March.

Overall, the HSI rose 2.9 per cent over the month, the result coming after an 0.4 per cent fall in February. Even excluding Transport costs inflated by higher fuel prices, household spending was still up 1.0 per cent, with all 12 categories recording monthly increases. Transport spending surged 22.9 per cent in March, the latest HSI data shows. 

“As expected, the sharp March lift in household spending reflects higher petrol prices as a result of the conflict in the Middle East,” CBA Head of Australian Economics Belinda Allen said. “Of the 2.9 per cent lift in the month, over half was contributed from Transport alone. Spending at petrol stations accounts for well over half of the category, with spending up around 45 per cent in the month. 

“Looking ahead, CommBank expects household spending to slow as real household disposable income growth weakens, helping ease inflation pressures over time. The outlook for consumers will be critical to the path of interest rates beyond May,” Allen said. 

Australian household spending. Source: Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Insights, April 2026

Older Australians lead spending growth 

Meanwhile new data released in the HSI report for the first time shows that household spending patterns are diverging sharply by age.  

Over the year to March, consumers aged 65-plus recorded the strongest growth, followed by those aged 55 to 64 and 45 to 54. Younger cohorts saw slower spending growth, particularly people aged 25 to 34.

“Typically, households aged 65 and over have higher disposable incomes and are more likely to benefit from higher interest rates compared with other age groups,” Allen said. Nevertheless, “we did see spending on essential categories continued to drive growth across all age cohorts”. 

Compared to March 2025, spending growth lifted across all age groups except those aged 18 to 24, with the biggest acceleration among Australians aged 55 to 64. 

Hospitality and big event spending grows 

In other categories, hospitality spending increased 1.2 per cent and Recreation rose 0.9 per cent over the month, supported by a busy events calendar including the start of the NRL and AFL seasons, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Women’s Asia Cup. 

Utilities spending rose 6.9 per cent, lifted by the end of electricity rebates, while spending on insurance climbed 2.5 per cent, most likely driven by health insurance prepayments made ahead of premium rises from 1 April. 

Across the board, annual spending growth lifted to 8.5 per cent in March. Over the quarter, spending rose 1.8 per cent in nominal terms, but with headline inflation estimated at 1.4 per cent, real spending volumes are estimated to have increased by just 0.4 per cent. 

Regions outperform metros, but fuel risks loom 

Regional areas recorded stronger annual spending growth than metro areas across most states, with Queensland the standout in both metro and regional locations. Western Australia’s regions also performed strongly, while the weakest growth was recorded in the ACT, metro Tasmania and metro Victoria. 

While higher fuel prices initially lifted spending, regional areas are more exposed to prolonged increases given the heavy reliance of agricultural, mining and freight industries on diesel-intensive operations. If elevated fuel prices persist, Allen says regional spending is likely to soften. 

See the full report here.

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Things you should know

NOT INVESTMENT RESEARCH. The Commonwealth Bank ‘Household Spending Insights’ is not investment research and nor does it purport to make any recommendations. The Commonwealth Bank ‘Household Spending Insights’ has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation (including your capacity to bear loss), knowledge, experience or needs. You should not act on the information contained in this document. To the extent that you choose to make any investment decision after having read this document, you should not rely on it but consider its appropriateness and suitability to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and, if appropriate, seek professional or independent financial advice, including tax and legal advice. The data used in the ‘Commbank Spending Insights’ series is a combination of CBA Data and publicly available Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), CoreLogic and Reserve Bank of Australia data. Any reference made to the term ‘CBA data’ means the proprietary data of the Bank that is sourced from the Bank’s internal systems and may include, but is not limited to, home loan data, credit card transaction data, merchant facility transaction data and applications for credit. All customer data used, or represented, in this report is de-identified before analysis and is used, and disclosed, in accordance with the Group’s Privacy Policy.