Many Australians came out of the long COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021 in need of a bit of pampering and the latest national economic snapshot reveals they did not hold back once hair salons, barbers and beauty parlours reopened late last year.
Wednesday’s National Accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed households treating themselves, with spending increasing by 6.3 per cent in the final three months of 2021 as lockdowns ended in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra driven by an unprecedented spike of more than 14 per cent in what the bureau calls “non-essential spending”.
Filomena Maraventano from Aldo’s hair salon in Brighton was not suprised that Wednesday’s national accounts showed the largest rise in spending on hair and beauty since records began. Credit:Simon Schluter
By contrast, spending on relatively boring things such as food and housing grew by less than 2 per cent, while “personal and other services”, including hairdressing and beauty, also broke its growth record late last year, up by more than 15.4 per cent on the previous three months.
Somehow we managed to save amid all that shopping and grooming, with households hanging on to nearly 14 per cent of their disposable income in October, November and December, well above pre-pandemic levels.
But for the ABS, the story of the December quarter was all that household consumption with a distinctly personal flavour, as spending on travel, dining and accommodation soared.
“Personal services grew as people got a haircut,” the bureau noted on Wednesday.
“Compared to the September quarter 2021, production surged in industries most affected by restrictions. The air transport industry grew the fastest – by 56.5 per cent – followed by accommodation and food services at 26.1 per cent.
“Personal and other services, including hairdressing and beauty salons, grew by 15.4 per cent, the fastest quarterly growth ever for that industry.”
