Household Budget Barometer 2026
Our annual pulse check on Australia’s household financial pressure
Key takeaways
- Compare the Market’s Household Budget Barometer 2026 found 61% of Australians feel financially fatigued and less able to make money decisions.
- 85% said inflationary pressure had lasted longer than expected, while only 9% believed the cost of living was improving.
- 68% had shopped around for at least one major household product in the past year; car insurance was compared most often at 43%, followed by energy plans at 36%, home and contents insurance at 32% and private health insurance at 28%.
Highlights
- More than 4 in 5 Australians (85%) said inflationary pressures had lasted longer than they expected.
- 61% described themselves as financially fatigued and less able to make proactive money decisions.
- Fewer than 1 in 10 Australians believed the cost of living was improving (9%).
- The average Australian spends $186.23 a week on groceries
- Australians spent an average of $55.98 a week on fuel
- Home and contents insurance up 26% over two years and car insurance up 21% across the five largest capitals.
- Monthly repayments on an average loan of $731,000 at about 5.95% were estimated at $4,502, compared with $2,252 on an average $548,000 loan at 2.8% five years earlier.
Interest in cost of living search terms over time
NSW
Most likely to compare – 74% have shopped around this year.
Early AI adopters – 28% are using it to improve productivity at work.
Victoria
More aspiring buyers are making sacrifices to buy property – 61%.
Average annual private health insurance spend: $2,747.46.
Queensland
Brisbane was the least affordable capital, with just 12.76% of suburbs across Greater Brisbane accessible to couples earning two average salaries.
South Australia
Most worried about electricity and gas bills, despite the state’s solar uptake.
Only 15% of aspiring homebuyers feel confident they will enter the market.
Western Australia
59% of homebuyers say prices are outpacing their savings.
Average weekly grocery spending increased by $17.23.
ACT
26% of respondents plan to pass on more than one property to their children.
More likely to have received financial education in high school.
Tasmania
Respondents least likely to have credit card debt.
20% regret not contributing more to super.
NT
45% saving on groceries by planning cheaper meals.
Top two bills for comparison are car and home insurance.
Hear from Compare the Market's Economic Director, David Koch
“After years of cost-of-living pressure, financial fatigue is becoming a problem in its own right. It wears us down, while everything around us seems to be going up – groceries, insurances, our home loan – even our holidays. A practical first step is to tackle one major expense at a time and question whether it is still delivering value. It might take a couple minutes but the impact could last much longer.”
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