Spending in Australia's hospitality industry has slowed because of a downturn at cafes, restaurants and takeaway stores in Western Australia and Queensland, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show.
ABS data released on Monday show that year-on-year spending growth in hospitality fell from 4 per cent in February 2015 to 2.4 per cent in February 2016.
Ben Dorber, manager of the ABS retail survey, said the industry's performance varied wildly from states affected by the downturn in the mining sector, where hospitality sales went backwards, and non-mining states, where it was booming.
"Queensland and WA are both really weak – both of those states are down over 5 per cent compared to the same time last year – whereas for every other state growth is up," Mr Dorber said.
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The slowdown in growth was led by big falls in Western Australia, where spending in February was $417.1 million, down $30.3 million from the same month last year, and Queensland, where spending fell by $43.2 million to $714.2 million.
"We have heard some anecdotal evidence from some of those takeaway providers about being affected by mines closing and directly affecting their businesses," Mr Dorber said.
In contrast, turnover in the sector in NSW grew by 7.5 per cent year-on-year to $1.17 billion, while spending in Victoria grew 5 per cent to $796.9 million.
Sales in the ACT grew 14 per cent and all other states and territories had modest growth, leading to Australia-wide industry sales growth of 2 per cent to $3.4 billion in February.
Mr Dorber said large and small hospitality businesses were also out of step, with trade at smaller cafes, restaurants and takeaway stores decelerating more than large businesses in late 2015 and early 2016.
Turnover at larger businesses, on the other hand, had slowed over 2014-15, he said.
Monday's ABS figures show total retail turnover in February was unchanged from January, using seasonally adjusted figures, dampening hopes that consumer spending could keep Australia's economy growing in the second half despite global headwinds.
Seasonally adjusted figures show retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in Victoria, 0.2 per cent in NSW, 0.3 per cent in South Australia and 1 per cent in the ACT. Queensland and Western Australia were down 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent, Tasmanian turnover fell 0.5 per cent and Northern Territory fell 1.6 per cent.
Online sales accounted for 3 per cent of retail turnover, the ABS said.