Bankwest’s latest Spend Trends data has suggested the tight financial times are finally beginning to slow the spending of young Western Australians – just in time for Baby Boomers’ exit through the state’s departure gates.
Bankwest’s Spend Trends tracks WA customer credit and debit activity to identify insights in community responses to economic conditions, with August data showing a slowing of spending by Gen Z month-on-month.
Young Western Australians remained the state’s big spenders when looking at year-on-year trends, with the number of customers spending compared to the same time in 2023 growing, while all other generations declined.
However, the number of Gen Zs spending across most of the 25 sectors remained stable or declined month-on-month, for a slight overall growth (+1%), in line with Millennials (+0.3%), Gen X (+0.1%), and Baby Boomers (+0.3%).
There were also signs Boomers were preparing to hit the skies again as other generations remain grounded, with month-on-month growth in the number of older customers spending on Airlines (+12%) and Travel Agencies (+5%).
That compared to Gen Z (Airlines +2%; Travel Agencies -5%), Millennials (+9%; -2%), and Gen X (+6%; -5%).
But while Gen Z appeared to be slowing their activities, their overall spending remained significantly elevated on other generations, with the number spending year-on-year growing 6.5 per cent, with all others declining.
Airlines was the flagbearer for highlighting the spending differentials, with Gen Z’s year-on-year growth in the number of those spending (+41%) greater than Millennials (+11%), Gen X (+13%), and Boomers (+12%) combined.
Gen Z also continued to spend at higher values, with the year-on-year growth for the average transaction value at seven per cent – more than double that of Millennials (+3%), and up on Gen X (+4%) and Boomers (+1%).
The average value of transactions across all generations and sectors year-on-year increased just three per cent, with Gen Z’s seven per cent indicating their outgoings were attributed to more than simple cost-of-living increases.
Bankwest General Manager Products Peter Bouhlas said: "Bankwest’s latest Spend Trends report for August highlights the ongoing cost-of-living pressures faced by Western Australians.
“Despite these challenges, we see a notable resilience in spending habits among Gen Z, which continues to find ways to navigate cost-of-living concerns, defying the overall spending declines of other generations.
“However, while year-on-year data shows Gen Z’s spending remains elevated above other generations overall, there are also emerging signs in the month-on-month figures that younger customers are beginning to slow spending.
“It’s also interesting to see that travel appears to remain a priority for Baby Boomers, who have in recent months been aligned in their spending behaviours to Millennials and Gen X, but are now returning to the skies.
“This makes sense, given Millennials and Gen X are those more likely to have a mortgage they are managing among other cost-of-living rises, while Boomers are more likely to have fewer debt obligations.
"We know there are many Western Australians finding the current economic conditions challenging, and we encourage customers concerned about their circumstances to reach out so we can support their unique position."
