Almost all Sydneysiders have pulled back on dining and entertainment over the past year, but younger renters in the inner city are pinching their pennies much more than long-time home owners in some outer suburbs. People in every area of Greater Sydney between June 2023 and May 2024 spent less on fast food, restaurants, and food delivery than in the previous 12 months, data provided to the Herald by Visa shows. The average person spent 6.
7 per cent less on dining during the period. Use the interactive map below to see the change in dining spending among people who live in your area, and how much money people are spending each week on average. Entertainment spending has also declined by an average of 6.
5 per cent annually across Greater Sydney on sports clubs, golf club memberships, cinemas, live performances, and activities such as escape rooms and bowling. Visa Australia’s head of consulting and analytics, David Peacock, said the changes reflected increased cost of living pressures. “Over the last two years, we have seen the rise in inflation outpace the growth in wages,” Peacock said.
“Consumers have had to increase the proportion of their income allocated to essential purchases, such as food and utilities, which results in a more significant decline in dining and entertainment spend.” He said the analysis was based on depersonalised transaction data, grouped together by area of residence. It was also run against government data on consumer habits to incorporate p.