ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has fallen 1.8pts to 80.2 this week, reverting to its original position two weeks ago after a rise last week.
Consumer Confidence has now spent a record 69 straight weeks below the mark of 85, and is now 4 points above the same week a year ago but 2.1 points below the 2024 weekly average of 82.3.
The two key questions that drove this week’s decline both related to conditions over the next year in terms of personal finances and also Australia’s economic performance over the next year.
Now just over a fifth of Australians (22 per cent - up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 51 per cent (up 1ppt) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year deteriorated this week, with 31 per cent (down 2ppts) expecting their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while 35 per cent (up 2ppts) are expecting to be ‘worse off’ - the latter is the highest figure for this indicator so far this year.
Meanwhile, 8 per cent (down 3ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next twelve months compared to 35 per cent (up 2ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term was virtually unchanged this week with 11 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to a fifth (20 per cent - down 2ppts), expecting ‘bad times’.
There was a slight deterioration in net buying intentions this week with 21 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 51 per cent (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said while confidence is running modestly higher in 2024 compared to the 2023 average of 78, it is more than 30 points below the long-run average.
“Household confidence in the 12-month outlook for the economy declined by 5.4 points – the largest weekly fall since February 2023,” Dunk said. “Short term economic confidence is now at its lowest level for 2024. Households were also more wary about the 12-month outlook for their finances, with the subindex falling 4.1pts.”
Around the states, there were mixed results, with consumer confidence down in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia but up slightly in Victoria – reversing the trends of a week ago.