Post-COVID migration trends lead to $250 billion regional spending boom
Regional Australia's spending power has climbed to $250 billion, new CommBank iQ transaction data analysed for Boomtown shows — a figure that upends the assumption that consumer spending is concentrated almost entirely in the capital cities.
Drawing on the anonymised transactions of 17 million Australians across 2025, the research found regional areas now make up 35% of the nation's total consumer spend, and in some categories account for as much as half of all spending within major states.
Millennials and mortgage-driven migration reshape the map
The shift is being driven by a sustained wave of metropolitan migrants, many of them millennials with young families, chasing more affordable housing and improved lifestyle without sacrificing city-level incomes through remote work.
"COVID was a tough time for everyone, but it really did accelerate regional migration," said Boomtown marketing lead Francesca Ryan. "We've seen that continue, and it's really driven by millennials, people who are starting families or have young kids and want more space and an improved lifestyle at a better price."
That migration is translating into real borrowing capacity and spending power once households relocate. Regional consumers outspend their capital city counterparts by 13% on groceries, 53% on hardware and home improvement, and 38% on active lifestyle categories, with regional Queensland ($76.2 billion) and regional NSW ($73.7 billion) emerging as the two largest regional markets nationally.
Ryan said the data challenges outdated assumptions about regional buyers.
"This report validates that regional Aussies are more like their metropolitan counterparts than they are different from them," she said.
Confidence wobbles as inflation reignites rate-hike fears
Yet that strength at the regional level sits awkwardly alongside signs of national unease.
Separate ANZ-Roy Morgan data shows consumer confidence fell 2.6 points to 74.9 in the week to 31 August after the ABS reported higher-than-expected inflation of 3.5% for July, with sentiment now 13.1 points below the same week last year.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the reading has shifted the bank's own rate outlook: "Given persistent inflation and the resilience in household spending, we now expect the RBA to hike the cash rate by 25bp to 4.6% in November."
The survey also found only 18% of Australians believe their household finances have improved over the past year, against 50% who say they're worse off — a split that adds pressure to household budgets even as regional demand continues to hold up.
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