ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence softened further by 0.5 percentage points to 78.5 this week. The index has now spent a record 76 straight weeks below the mark of 85.
Consumer confidence is a large 5.9 points above the same week a year ago, but is now 3.1 points below the 2024 weekly average of 81.6.
There were mixed results across Australia, with the index up in Victoria and Western Australia, down in Queensland and South Australia but virtually unchanged in New South Wales.
Despite minimal movement across the index, there were slight declines in long-term views on the Australian economy which slipped to its most negative reading so far this year.
Now a fifth of Australians (20 per cent - up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 53 per cent (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Under a third of Australians (30 per cent - down 1ppt) are expecting their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while another 35 per cent (unchanged) are expecting to be ‘worse off’.
Just 8 per cent (unchanged) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 37 per cent (up 1ppt) that expect ‘bad times’.
In the longer term, only 10 per cent (down 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years, which is the lowest reading for this indicator since November 2023 – just after the last interest rate increase. This is compared to just over a fifth (22 per cent - up 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
Buying intentions were largely stable this week with a fifth of Australians (20 per cent - down 1ppt) saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 49 per cent (down 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ major household items.
ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said the softness in consumer confidence has continued this week, with the index hitting its second weakest result since early December 2023.
“Confidence is currently 36 points lower than its pre-COVID five-year (2015–19) average,” Dunk said.
“While all subindices remain well below their pre-COVID five-year average, the time to buy a major household item subindex is particularly weak, down 62 points.
“Households are also very concerned about their current financial position, with the subindex down 41 points relative to the pre-COVID five-year average.”