Research from CPR First Aid training provider reveals top New Year’s resolutions in Australia

A new study from CPR First Aid training provider, who analysed Google search volumes of 65 top-trending keywords related to resolutions throughout Australia, has revealed the top New Year’s resolutions in Australia.

Australians’ top New Year’s resolution is losing weight followed by healthy eating and drinking more water. Around New Year’s time, Australians also want to stop snoring and quit smoking more than they want to develop their career paths, put an end to drinking or get better sleep.

A spokesperson for CPR First Aid commented on the findings noting “we aimed to cover as wide a range of resolutions as possible, from jobs and mental health to addictions and lifestyle habits like procrastination and biting nails. We were very surprised that all the top five resolutions Aussies aim for are entirely health-related. Being healthy seems more important to us than our career trajectories, for instance, and that speaks volumes about our priorities as a society.”

The top ten emerging themes cover eight months’ worth of search volumes for November, December, January and February of 2022 and 2023.  

Australia’s top New Year’s resolution is losing weight. It is the most Googled resolution theme in every state and territory in the country, averaging 365,360 searches per month around New Year’s time. Australians looked up inquiries related to weight loss twice as much as the next most popular resolution – healthy eating. Unlike with most other resolutions, the interest in shedding some extra pounds is relatively even across Australia, though New South Wales had a 2.52% higher rate than the rest of the country. “How to lose weight fast”, in particular, was the most searched term within this theme in December 2023 throughout Australia.

Healthy eating is the second most popular New Year’s resolution Australians look up online. Searches for keywords related to healthy eating averaged 192,590 inputs per month in the period around New Year’s. Searches for “healthy eating plan” peaked in January 2023 more than any other time of the year. Similarly to losing weight, interest in healthy eating is rather uniform throughout Australia, with 3.8% more searches coming from the Northern Territory.

Every month around the Christmas holidays, Australians seek advice on increasing their water consumption. On average, there were 165,050 monthly searches related to drinking more water. This is the third most concerning New Year’s resolution in the country. Water intake goals are of particularly high interest in the Australian Capital Territory, where searches are 11.34% above the national average.

From November through February, career development, alcohol consumption and sleep quality appear less of a concern compared to Australians’ hope to stop snoring or kick the smoking habit. Tasmanians want to stop snoring the most – 22.20% more than the average Australian. Meanwhile, people in the Northern Territory want to quit smoking 28.56% more than anyone else in Australia.

Residents of Western Australia are far more interested in developing a career path than Australians elsewhere. People here are 72% more concerned about their career development than the average Australian is.

 No one wants to stop drinking as much as people in the Northern Territory. Their search histories point towards an 81% higher interest in giving up alcohol than in other parts of the country. This is also where hopes for better sleep are more than double the national average. The same goes for improving their budgeting skills, with Northern Territory residents researching the topic online 132.20% more than their fellow Australians.

Overthinking is also in the nation’s top ten New Year’s resolutions. New South Wales is especially worried about this, with a 4.46% higher likelihood of looking for a way to stop overthinking by Googling it.

The study was conducted by CPR First Aid – a leading authorised training provider of first aid and CPR courses.