Australian fuel spend declined over past two weeks: Westpac
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The news: Australian households’ fuel spending has declined for two weeks in a row, with Westpac DataX figures showing this is the first sustained decline since the start of the Middle East conflict.
The federal government slashed its fuel excise for three months starting 1 April while some states introduced a period of free public transport. On Sunday, the Victorian government announced an additional one month of free public transport, to 1 June, and half-price fares until the end of 2026.
The numbers: Fuel spending declined 3.8% over the last week, to $163.4 million, following a 17.9% drop the week before.
Prior to this fortnight there were uninterrupted increases in spending on fuel.
Fuel spending remains up 16.2% year-on-year and over the past six weeks is up $236.7 million over the year.
The average fuel transaction value rose 2.9% over the week, to $59.21, which Westpac said indicates a pullback in short-term stockpiling behaviour. Regional customers refuelled more frequently and spent more per transaction.
What they said: “Households have been under sustained pressure since early March, so seeing fuel spend fall back is a meaningful shift and suggests the fuel excise cut is landing in household budgets,” Westpac chief executive consumer Carolyn McCann said in a media statement.
“However, fuel costs are still higher than people were used to before the shock, and we’re starting to see the impact shift to some business sectors that are less able to pass costs on quickly.”
The source: Westpac DataX
