South Yarra is the ultimate lifestyle destination brimming with energy, enterprise, world-class culinary experiences, fashion, and hospitality.
Read the Place Activation Plan for South Yarra or find out more about South Yarra in the economic snapshot below.
What's happening in this precinct?
South Yarra’s economy has grown by 7.7% compared to winter 2024. The strongest growth is in pubs, bars and taverns which have increased by 59% since Apr-Sep 2024. Chapel Street shop vacancies fell by 1.15% to 12.22%, which is very positive. Toorak Road vacancies rose during the Apr-Sep period by 1.02%, but overall vacancies for the precinct remain under 10%. Council is currently working with a selection of vacant commercial properties to apply artistic decals to the windows to boost precinct vibrancy and lift the leasing message in order to further support the reduction in vacancies in the precinct. Peak foot traffic days continues to be in the latter part of the week, with Saturdays seeing the greatest spend and visitation.
Economic Snapshot
April 2025 - September 2025 Economic Snapshot(PDF, 661KB)
The economy
- Daytime spend – $148.4M
- Night-time spend – $71.6M
- Total local spend – $220M (up 7.7% from last year)
- Total customers – 264K (up 7.3% from last year)
- Highest spend day – 16 August 2025
- Highest weekly spend day – Saturdays
- Spend origin – 36% residents, 64% visitors
| April-September monthly spend |
|
2024 |
2025 |
| April |
$33,739,806 |
$34,752,000 |
| May |
$34,634,964 |
$38,237,000 |
| June |
$33,315,493 |
$35,481,000 |
| July |
$33,080,689 |
$36,488,000 |
| August |
$35,564,576 |
$38,552,000 |
| September |
$33,972,998 |
$36,487,000 |
|
April - September 2025 top spend categories
|
|
Category
|
Subcategory
|
Total spend
|
|
Discretionary retail
|
Department stores, clothing and accessories
|
$27,893,000
|
|
Other discretionary retail
|
$17,888,000
|
|
Food retailing
|
Groceries and other food retailing
|
$17,553,000
|
|
Supermarkets
|
$38,897,000
|
|
Tourism and entertainment
|
Takeaway and fast-food outlets
|
$8,981,000
|
|
Restaurants
|
$43,646,000
|
|
Pubs, taverns and bars
|
$14,251,000
|
|
Cafes
|
$8,669,000
|
|
Attractions, events and recreation
|
$3,842,000
|
Vacancy and occupancy
- Vacancies now filled – 36 since January 2025
- Changed tenancies - 22 since January 2025
- Newly vacant premises - 25 since January 2025
|
|
Jan 25 vacancy rate
|
Change
|
|
Chapel Street
|
12.22%
|
Down 1.15%
|
|
Toorak Road
|
9.65%
|
Up 1.02% |
Street activity
- Busiest days –Saturdays
- Busiest times – 5 PM
Visitor demographics
- Top customer age band – 25-34, 30.2% of visitors
- Top customer life stage – Young singles and couples, 32.5% of visitors
|
Top 5 non-Stonnington spend origin locations
|
|
South Yarra – West
|
$9.6M
|
|
Richmond (South) – Cremorne
|
$4.9M
|
| Albert Park |
$4.2M
|
| St Kilda – West |
$3.3M
|
|
St Kilda East
|
$2.9M
|
Data sourcing: Pedestrian activity data current as of 20 October 2025. Source: City of Stonnington Pedestrian counters. Spend data current as of20 October 2025 and is subject to revisions. Sourced from banking transaction data. Vacancy data current as of July 2025. Source: Vacancy Review, prepared by E3 valuations and commissioned by City of Stonnington.
Previous Snapshots