ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has lifted by 2.7 points to 88.4 this week and has reached its highest level in two-and-a-half years since May 2022 – just after the last Federal Election.
Consumer Confidence is now 12 points above the same week a year ago and 5.6 points above the 2024 weekly average of 82.8.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said Black Friday sales have helped push the index up this week. This was seen in the significant boost to buying intentions, where 31 per cent of Australians (up 7ppts) are saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items - the highest figure for this indicator for over two years since April 2022.
Meanwhile, 42 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘bad time to buy’, the lowest figure for this indicator since June 2022.
“This represented the subindex’s largest weekly rise since Black Friday sales in 2023, to its highest level since May 2022,” Angala said.
Across the other subindices, 23 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 47 per cent (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year improved this week with over a third of respondents (34 per cent - up 2ppts) expecting their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while only 29 per cent (down 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Under one-in-ten Australians (8 per cent - down 2ppts) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 29 per cent (down 1ppt), who expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term also improved this week with 12 per cent (up 2ppts) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 19 per cent (unchanged) expecting ‘bad times’.
Angala said confidence rose across most of the subindices, noting that while household economic outlook over the next year declined, it is still within the narrow range of 77-83 points since October 2024.
“Weekly inflation expectations dropped 0.2ppt to 4.8 per cent last week, a pullback from the rise to 5.0 per cent the week prior,” she added. “This comes after the monthly CPI indicator showed headline inflation was 2.1 per cent in October, well within the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target band.
“Though we should note that the components measured in the October monthly CPI indicator are skewed away from the main categories causing inflation.”