Australian Household Spending in October 2025 +1.3% m/m
- expected +0.6%, prior +0.3%
+5.6% y/y
- expected +4.6%, prior +5.1%
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Trade Balance in October 2025 AUD4385mn
- expected 4219mn, prior 3938mn
Imports +2.0% m/m
- prior +1.8%
- non monetary gold jumped (non-monetary gold is all gold traded or held for jewellery, investment or industry, excluding central-bank reserve holdings; more on this below if needed)
Exports +3.4% m/m
- prior +7.6%
- iron ore exports lifted, accounted for 2.3%
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That jump for household spending is another reason not to expect any Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate cuts any time soon. AUD/USD had been rising prior to the data release and its holding at session highs above 0.6605.
For those looking beyond the headline, the Australian Bureau of Statistics have this nugget:
- retailers had to offer discounts to get traffic in
- “promotional events saw households spend more on clothing, footwear, furnishings and electronics following months of weaker spending in these categories”
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Non-monetary gold is simply gold that is held, traded or used for purposes other than central-bank reserves.
In other words, it’s all gold except the gold that governments and central banks hold as part of official foreign-exchange reserves.
What non-monetary gold means
Non-monetary gold includes:
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Jewellery gold
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Investment gold (bars, coins held by private investors, ETFs)
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Gold for industrial or electronic use
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Gold traded by dealers, refiners or banks
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Gold exported/imported for fabrication or investment
It is treated just like any other commodity in trade and national-accounts statistics.
What it is NOT
It excludes:
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Official central-bank gold holdings
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Gold that is part of a country’s recognised foreign-exchange reserves
That category is called monetary gold.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.