5TH EDITION

2026 Australia Consumer Trends Report

Eight trends. 965 Australians. The clearest picture yet of how your customers are thinking, spending, and deciding – and what it means for your business.

BY THE NUMBERS

965

Australians surveyed nationally

8

Trends shaping consumer behaviour

67%

Still cite cost of living as their #1 concern

5th

Year tracking Australia’s consumer pulse

What's Inside

01

The cost-of-living marathon

Four years in, 67% of Australians continue to rank it #1 – and women are bearing the heaviest load.

02

Financial fragility & the retirement crisis

Women are nearly half as likely to feel retirement-ready as men. The gap is widening.

03

The housing squeeze

1 in 3 under-30s are still living at home. 21% of 45–64-year-olds have adult children still living at home – and 50% of parents in this position say their expenses have worsened.

04

The loneliness epidemic

54% experience loneliness at least sometimes, and it peaks among the young, not the old.

05

AI: Curiosity Without Trust

98% awareness, and the dominant sentiment is cautious (42%). Only 7% readily accept AI output.

06

Digital hygiene

1 in 4 admit their screen time is excessive – and 34% have no screen management strategies at all.

07

The volunteering paradox

54% feel personally responsible to volunteer. Only 32% actually did in the past year. The gap is about flexibility, not apathy.

08

The workplace recalibration

Flexibility is losing to money. 42% of workers would trade lifestyle perks for a pay rise – up sharply from 15% who’d do the reverse.