Dad-nomics: what we are buying for Father’s Day

The “dad economy” is set to boom this weekend with Australians forecast to spend more than half a billion dollars spoiling the nation’s fathers.

“But once again food and drink have proven to be the central way Australian’s celebrate dad."

ANZ cardholders are projected to spend more than $611 million over the Father’s Day weekend this year - up 3.45 per cent from last year.  

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While Australians have been weathering an inflation driven cost of living crisis in recent years, ANZ credit and debit card customer data shows spending has remained high over the weekend devoted to dads.

Last year, despite more tepid consumer confidence, Australians still increased Father’s Day spending by 6.7 per cent to hit $591 million. 

With the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting rates three times this year and consumer confidence improving, the nation’s fathers could benefit from being spoilt this year.

But where does the money go? 

Way to a man’s heart

It might have been a bottle of fine wine. 

It might have been fish and chips on the couch watching the footy.

But once again food and drink have proven to be the central way Australians celebrate dad. 

Last year a breakdown of figures show the biggest expense categories over the Father’s Day weekend was $112 million spent on food stores.

The second biggest was $77 million spent on takeaway, cafes and restaurants. 

The third was $31 million spent on wineries and bottle shops.

Other categories in which customers spent big on Father’s Day included $25 million on clothing and accessories, $21 million on other retail and goods stores and $9 million on motor vehicle parts and accessories stores.  

Spending: state of mind

ANZ’s data shows dads in Victoria still appear to be the most spoilt with the highest total spend of $165 million over weekend last year, up from $155 million in 2023. 

New South Wales had the second-biggest Father’s Day weekend - splashing out $154 million, from $145 million in 2023.

Third was Queensland with spending of $115 million, up from $107 million in 2023. 

When it comes to a percentage boost in what ANZ cardholders spent on Father’s Day, people in Western Australia (8.8 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (8.1 per cent) and Queensland (7.5 per cent) increased their spending the most.

The Northern Territory had the highest spend per capita of $267, a year-on-year increase of 4.1 per cent. 

I’ve got this

And which age group splurges the most on Father’s Day?  

Well, it depends on what category of purchase you are looking at. We compared spending on a normal weekend compared to the Father’s Day weekend and found some interesting results.

A large cohort of Millennials are more likely to buy dad some takeaway or take him to a restaurant. This group hikes spending on this category by 7 per cent to $14.67 million over the weekend. 

But other Millennial music lovers splurge on instruments or records for dad, with this category rising 8 per cent to $1.06 million.

As expected, more senior Generation X buyers spent more on clothing and accessories (up 6 per cent to $6.09 million), wineries and bottle shops (up 9 per cent to $6.04 million), camping and sports equipment (up 8 per cent to $1.41 million) and greeting cards (up 63 per cent to $1 million). 

What the figures underscore is that we are spending more – but we are also adapting as a society – and spending on a greater variety of gifts every Father’s Day.

Yiken Yang is Acting Managing Director, Retail Products at ANZ