New spending data from ANZ shows a dramatic fall in spending across the first half of the month, as financial issues continue to plague the country.

Overall spending is down 7.5 per cent year-on-year in the week to March 18, while average daily spending is down 6.2 per cent year-on-year for the month.

More dramatic is the 18 per cent year-on-year drop in non-food retail.

“This suggests the long-anticipated spending slowdown may be starting to come through,” ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said.

“Our base case expectation is for spending momentum to slow through 2023, as households juggle the impacts of rising rates and high inflation,.”

CBD spending is also below pre-COVID levels in every state aside from Sydney.

Brisbane, Perth and Hobart was 90 per cent of the 2019 spend for March, while Melbourne was at just 73 per cent.