Deloitte partner David Rumbens says Australia’s retail recession is continuing.Credit:Attila Csaszar
Releasing his latest retail outlook report,Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens said the nation’s retail sector had been in recession for the past 18 months.
Spending per person had fallen for the past two years and is now 2.5 per cent lower than June last year and 6.3 per cent lower than in mid-2022. The rest of the year would be tough,he said,but inflation was likely to ease further which would help lift retail spending next year and into 2026.
“The period from now to Christmas is still expected to be a difficult one for retailers,but perhaps less of a slog than it has been,” he said.
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“A tight focus on cost control,and periodic swing to discounting,remains the mantra. Technology investment is being further explored to drive efficiencies,with retailers’ hiring intentions dropping back.”
It’s not just the retail sector continuing to struggle.
Figures from the bureau on Wednesday showed the value of residential construction completed across the country during the three months to June fell by 0.1 per cent to be 2.9 per cent lower over the past year.
The drop will detract from next week’s national accounts which markets are expecting to show the economy grew by just 0.3 per cent in the June quarter. That would be after growth of just 0.1 per cent through the first three months of the year.
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