New report has revealed Western Australian Millennials have been facing challenges economy wise for the last 12 months, with their consumer spending activity moving up by only 0.2% compared to last year.
Bankwest’s Spend Trends report looks into consumer credit and debit activity in WA to see how the community is responding to the current economic conditions. September data has shown a flatline in the Millenial transaction volumes. The number of Millennials making transactions also declined compared with other generations, down 5.2% year over year. Gen X follows with numbers showing a decline of 4.6% year over year, while Boomers showed a 3.3% decline.
The cost-of-living strain felt by Millennials reflected in the transaction value figures increasing by 8.6% despite the transaction volumes stagnating and the consumer spending rate declining. In addition, Millennials have been found to pay almost 10% more on average for the same volume of transactions compared to the previous year.
Gen X’s year-on-year transaction volumes increased to 1.7% in September from 1.1% compared to the previous month, while Boomers’ increased to 4% from 2.8%, indicating an increased spending.
Figures, however, have indicated a “silver lining” in the disparity between the growth in the average value and the volume of transactions. The disparity averaged at just 6%, with zero being an indicator of equitable rise between the value and volume of transactions, with the travel industry leading the declining costs.
The volume of transactions made to travel agencies grew by 28% year over year, while the average transaction value remained unchanged from the previous year. Airline transaction volumes increased by 6% and fell by the same number in value.
“Bankwest’s Spend Trends data has shown a consistent trend recently of young Western Australians facing into the pressures of economic headwinds. That makes sense considering Millennials would more likely have higher levels of debt relative to income, compared to Gen X and Baby Boomers, both of whom the figures suggest are less affected by current conditions,” said Peter Bouhlas (pictured), general manager of products and digital services at Bankwest.
“However, while older Western Australians appear less affected, the Spend Trends data shows that fewer Gen X and Baby Boomers are spending compared to a year ago, indicating there are still pressures being felt by some.”
Have thoughts about the new report? Let us know in the comments below.
