ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 2.5 points to 88.5 after the Australia Day long weekend. This is the highest it’s been since May 2022 according to ANZ economist Sophia Angala.
Consumer confidence is now 4.7 points above the same week a year ago and 1.5 points above the 2025 weekly average of 87.0.
“Households are feeling more confident about the economic outlook, with short-term economic confidence rising to its highest level since April 2022 – before the first rate hike in May 2022 – while economic confidence over the next five years reached a 12-month high,” she said.
“The decline in weekly inflation expectations and the broad-based lift across the subindices may have been influenced by discussion that the RBA could cut rates at its February meeting. This comes after the quarterly CPI indicator showed that the RBA’s preferred measure of inflation, the trimmed mean, printed below RBA forecasts in Q4.”
A look at consumer confidence by state shows increases in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia while the index was virtually unchanged in New South Wales.
There was a rebound in buying intentions and a more positive outlook on the Australian economy over the next year and five years driving the weekly increase.
Just a fifth of Australians (20 per cent – unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 46 per cent (down 2ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year were virtually unchanged this week with a third of respondents (33 per cent - down 1ppt) expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while 28 per cent (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Meanwhile, 11 per cent of Australians (up 1ppt) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months – the highest figure for this indicator since July 2024 – compared to 27 per cent (unchanged), that expect ‘bad times’. The latter is the best ‘net result’ for this indicator for nearly three years since April 2022.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term improved this week with 13 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 17 per cent (down 3ppts) expecting ‘bad times’.
There was also a bounce in net buying intentions this week with 27 per cent (up 2ppts) of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 44 per cent (down 3ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.