ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 1.1pts to 76.2 – back to the level of two weeks ago in early May
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was down 1.1pts to 76.2 this week and has now spent thirteen straight weeks below the mark of 80 – the longest stretch below 80 since the index began being conducted on a weekly basis in October 2008. The last time Consumer Confidence spent at least thirteen weeks under 80 was during the 1990-91 recession when the index was conducted on a monthly basis.
Consumer Confidence is now 14.5pts below the same week a year ago, May 23-29, 2022 (90.7) and 3.8pts below the 2023 weekly average of 80.0. Looking around the States, Consumer Confidence reversed last week’s results and was down in Victoria, Queensland, WA and SA but up in NSW.
The driver of this week’s decrease was reduced confidence about personal financial situations compared to a year ago while other indicators were largely unchanged compared to a week ago.
Current financial conditions
- Now 18% of Australians (unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 53% (up 4ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Future financial conditions
- Looking forward, under a third of Australians, 29% (down 1ppt), expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while over a third, 35% (down 1ppt), expect to be ‘worse off’.
Current economic conditions
- Only 7% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to two-fifths, 40% (up 1ppt), that expect ‘bad times’.
Future economic conditions
- Sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term remains very weak with only 11% (unchanged) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to over a fifth, 21% (unchanged), expecting ‘bad times’.
Time to buy a major household item
- When it comes to buying intentions now 19% (up 2ppts) of Australians, say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while over half, 54% (up 1ppt), say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ Senior Economist, Adelaide Timbrell, commented:
Average confidence for May 2023 (76.8) was the weakest calendar-month average since December 1990, as cost-of-living pressure continues to impact households. The weekly result was the fifth worst since January 2020 and represented the 13th consecutive week below 80. Confidence about current financial conditions fell the most during the week and was at its second-weakest point since the beginning of 2020 (first-weakest being earlier in May 2023). Those paying off their homes still have far lower average confidence than renters and outright owners, despite housing prices lifting since mid-February.
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 |
