ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has tumbled for the third consecutive week, down 0.7pts to 72.6 this week.
“The confidence level was among the five worst results since the COVID outbreak and has stayed below 80 for 20 straight weeks,” said Adelaide Timbrell (pictured above), ANZ senior economist.
Consumer confidence is currently down 9.2pts compared to the same week a year ago, July 11-17, 2022 (81.8), and down 5.8pts the weekly average of 78.4 this year. Across the states, consumer confidence was down in New South Wales and Victoria, but up slightly in Queensland, WA, and SA.
Timbrell said the “decline in the latest result was mainly driven by weaker confidence in ‘current financial conditions,’” with now just 17% of Australians saying their families were “better off” financially (down 2ppts) than the same period last year, compared to a record 57% (up 4ppts) reporting their families were “worse off” financially.
Looking forward, 28% (up 1ppt) of Australians were expecting their family to be “better off” financially this time next year, while 40% (up 1ppt) believed they would be “worse off.”
“Among the housing cohorts, confidence fell to a record low for those renting,” Tmbrell said. “It improved among those paying off their homes but remained below 70, while it fell for those who own their homes outright.”
When it comes to economic conditions, an unchanged 6% of Australians expect the Australian economy to experience good times over the next 12 months compared to 42% (down 1ppt) that expect “bad time.”
Meanwhile, sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term remained very weak, with just 11% (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting “good times” for the economy over the next five years compared to the 21% (down 1ppt) that were expecting “bad times.”
Other indicators were little changed compared to a week ago, including time to buy a major household item, with 18% (up 1ppt) of Australians saying now is a “good time to buy” compared to a clear majority of 57% who say now is a “bad time to buy,” the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index showed.
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