ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down to lowest so far in 2023 as RBA set to meet for first time this year
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was down 3.2pts to 83.6 this week, the largest weekly drop for six months since early August 2022. Consumer Confidence is now a large 16.3pts below the same week a year ago, January 31 – February 6, 2022 (99.9). Consumer Confidence is now 2.7pts below the 2023 weekly average of 86.3.
Driving this week’s decline in Consumer Confidence was increasing concern about personal finances and whether now is a ‘good/bad time to buy major household items. Unusually, Consumer Confidence around Australia was down in all five mainland States.
Current financial conditions
- Now 22% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 47% (up 3ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Future financial conditions
- Looking forward, a third of Australians, 33% (down 1ppt), expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while just over a third, 34% (up 4ppts), expect to be ‘worse off’.
Current economic conditions
- Only 9% (up 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to a third, 33% (up 3ppts), that expect ‘bad times’.
Future economic conditions
- Sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term is still very weak with only 12% (down 2ppts) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 18% (up 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
Time to buy a major household item
- When it comes to buying intentions now 23% (down 1ppt) of Australians, say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 49% (up 3ppts), say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ Senior Economist, Adelaide Timbrell, commented:
Consumer confidence experienced its biggest weekly fall since early August 2022. Confidence about current and future finances fell sharply, perhaps sparked by concerns about the extent of cash rate rises after the Q4 inflation print. Household inflation expectations drifted up but are still lower than expectations during the final three months of 2022. Average confidence among homeowners paying off their mortgages fell less than other housing status cohorts, though still ended the week with lower confidence than renters and outright homeowners.
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.
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
