ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumped 4.7 points to 89.8 this week after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 4.1 per cent.
It is the Bank’s first cut to official interest rates for over four years since November 2020 during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consumer confidence is now 6.6 points above the same week a year ago and 2.7 points above the 2025 weekly average of 87.1.
There were increases in consumer confidence across all states with the largest increase in Western Australia and increases of at least three points in the other states.
More than a fifth of Australians (22 per cent –up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 44 per cent (down 6ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’. The latter is the lowest figure for this indicator for two years since January 2023.
Views on personal finances over the next year improved significantly this week with 37 per cent of respondents (up 5ppts) expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year – the highest figure for this indicator for over three years since January 2022. Meanwhile, 27 per cent (down 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’, which is the lowest figure for this indicator for nearly three years since May 2022.
Just over one-in-ten Australians (11 per cent – up 1ppt) are expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 26 per cent (down 3ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term improved slightly this week with just 13 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 17 per cent (down 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
There was also virtually no change in net buying intentions this week with only 24 per cent (unchanged) of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 44 per cent (down 1ppt) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the fall also followed robust employment data last week. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 4.1 per cent in January.
“Across the housing cohorts, confidence amongst mortgage holders jumped 10.7pts to its highest level since early May 2022 (before the beginning of the RBA’s hiking cycle) and is now sitting above the confidence of outright homeowners, which remained largely steady last week,” Angala said. “Meanwhile, the confidence of renters also rose 4.0pts, but remains the lowest of the three housing cohorts.
“We expect a gradual uptrend in ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence this year, as tax cuts, easing inflation and the RBA’s easing cycle support household disposable incomes.”