Consumption goods imports crashing?

Consumption slows

Consumption goods imports suddenly nosedived -20 per cent in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

Zooming out a bit, this was the lowest level since January 2022, and a major 'driver' of the decline was quite likely bottlenecks in new vehicle sales.

Overall, imports were pretty weak though, in total down -9 per cent for the month for the biggest monthly drop since 1984. 

Commodity prices have been very strong for Australia, but export values are now rolling over for coal, natural gas, and iron ore. 

Looking ahead a bright spot for our economy will be tourism, which is exploding back to life (and international students too).  

February was the strongest month for Australian tourism services since January 2020, and I'd say we'll be back at record highs later this year as visitors stream back into the country. 

Overall, the imports figures weren't quite as bad as they looked in February, but clearly the overall trend is for spending slowing and the stalling of domestic demand (which actually happened from Q4 last year). 

James Foster analysed the figures in more detail here, showing that lower input prices should now help to see lower prices of goods...which will be a welcome relief.