ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increases slightly to 101.8 as Melbourne & Adelaide lockdowns end

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased slightly by 1.1pts to 101.8 this week after lockdowns in Melbourne and Adelaide ended and Australians were advised of vaccination targets to achieve to avoid future lockdowns. Consumer Confidence is well below the 2021 weekly average of 110.3, however it remains 13.2 points higher than the same week a year ago, August 1/2, 2020 (88.6).

There were mixed fortunes for Consumer Confidence around the country this week with increases in Melbourne, up 2pts (+2%) and Adelaide up 3pts (+2.9%) which ended their lockdowns while there was a decline in Sydney, down 7pts (-7.0%) which had its lockdown extended for another month.

The indices to drive Consumer Confidence higher this week were those related to personal financial situations and whether now is a ‘good/bad time to buy’ major household items.

Current financial conditions

• Now 26% (up 1ppt) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year and 27% (unchanged), say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.

Future financial conditions

• In addition, a plurality of 37% (up 3ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, compared to 15% (unchanged) that expect to be ‘worse off’ financially.

Current economic conditions

• Remaining a point of concern, less than one-in-eight Australians, 11% (down 1ppts) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months while 29% (up 2ppts), expect ‘bad times’.

Future economic conditions

• In the longer term, just under a fifth of Australians, 19% (unchanged), are expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 17% (unchanged) expecting ‘bad times’.

Time to buy a major household item

• A significant factor behind this week’s increase related to whether now is a good or bad time to buy major household items with 36% (up 2ppts), of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 32% (down 3ppts) saying now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, commented:

"Consumer confidence rose by 1.1% last week as restrictions were lifted from Victoria and South Australia. Confidence in their capital cities improved by 2.0% and 2.9% respectively. Sentiment in Brisbane was also up by 2.7%, but the majority of the survey was completed before the three-day lockdown in South East Queensland was announced. Sentiment in Sydney was down a sharp 7.0% as the lockdown in the city was extended by a month. While below the long-run average, overall consumer confidence is well above the levels seen during Melbourne’s long second lockdown. This is consistent with the evidence provided by ANZ Job Ads that the economic impact of the current lockdowns is likely to be considerably less than in 2020."

Latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Releases.)

Related Research Reports

The latest Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Monthly Report is available on the Roy Morgan Online Store. It provides demographic breakdowns for Age, Sex, State, Region (Capital Cities/ Country), Generations, Lifecycle, Socio-Economic Scale, Work Status, Occupation, Home Ownership, Voting Intention, Roy Morgan Value Segments and more

Consumer Confidence – Monthly Detailed Report in Australia.
Business Confidence – Monthly Detailed Report in Australia.
Consumer Banking Satisfaction - Monthly Report in Australia.

For comments or more information please contact:
Roy Morgan - Enquiries
Office: +61 (03) 9224 5309
askroymorgan@roymorgan.com