2024年12月，澳大利亚的零售额环比下降0.1%，这是九个月来的首次下降，尽管下降幅度比预测的0.7%的收缩幅度要小。尽管下降幅度小于预期，但结果表明消费者支出疲软，加剧了人们对澳大利亚储备银行可能在未来一个月开始降息的预期。多个零售行业经历了收缩，包括服装、鞋类和个人配饰（-1.8%），其他零售业（-1.4%），以及咖啡馆、餐馆和外卖食品（-0.5%）。另一方面，某些类别的零售活动有所增长，如家居用品零售（1.6%）、百货商店（0.4%）和食品零售（0.1%）。从地理上讲，大多数地区的零售额都有所下降，澳大利亚首都直辖区（-0.7%）、南澳大利亚州（-0.7%，昆士兰州（-0.4%）、维多利亚州（-0.2%）、塔斯马尼亚州（-0.1%）和北领地（-0.1%，均呈下降趋势。

Retail sales in Australia fell by 0.1% month-on-month in December 2024, marking the first decline in nine months, though the drop was milder than the forecasted 0.7% contraction. Despite the smaller-than-expected decline, the result points to weakening consumer spending, fueling expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia may start cutting interest rates in the coming month. Several retail sectors experienced contractions, including clothing, footwear, and personal accessories (-1.8%), other retailing (-1.4%), and cafes, restaurants, and takeaway food (-0.5%). On the other hand, retail activity in some categories showed growth, such as household goods retailing (1.6%), department stores (0.4%), and food retailing (0.1%). Geographically, retail sales were down in most regions, with the Australian Capital Territory (-0.7%), South Australia (-0.7%), Queensland (-0.4%), Victoria (-0.2%), Tasmania (-0.1%), and the Northern Territory (-0.1%) all reporting declines.