ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has jumped 5.9 points to 84.4 this week and is now at its highest point for six months since mid-January.
This is the largest weekly jump for over three years since mid-April 2021, after Easter that year, when the index jumped 6.4 points.
Despite the significant jump, the index has now spent a record 77 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer confidence is a large 9.2 points above the same week a year ago, and is now 2.7 points above the 2024 weekly average of 81.7.
The large jump came after the vast majority of income taxpayers have now received a significant income tax cut.
There was positive movement across the index this week with all five questions moving in a positive direction and contributing to the weekly increase.
Now over a fifth of Australians (22 per cent - up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 49 per cent (down 4ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year returned to positive territory this week, with a third of Australians (33 per cent - up 3ppts) expecting their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while only 32 per cent (down 3ppts) are expecting to be ‘worse off’.
Just over one in ten (12 per cent - up 4ppts) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to a third (33 per cent - down 4ppts), that expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term recovered from a yearly low this week with 13 per cent (up 3ppts) 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’.
Buying intentions also improved this week with 23 per cent of Australians (up 3ppts) saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 47 per cent (down 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ major household items.
“The improvement in confidence was broad-based, with each of the subindices increasing by at least 5 points,” ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said. “Notably, households’ confidence in their current financial situation was the second highest since early-2023. This suggests households may be starting to see a boost to their incomes from the Stage 3 tax cuts and other cost-of-living relief measures.
“The next few weeks will be important in determining whether this is the start of a sustained recovery in consumer confidence.”