Preference for Australian-made goods unchanged at 96% in 2022; goods from NZ, UK and USA are also highly rated
New data from Roy Morgan shows the preference for Australian-made goods has remained strong over the last year. An unchanged huge majority of 96% of Australians said they are more likely to buy products made in Australia in the 12 months to March 2022 – far ahead of products made in any other countries.
Australian consumers are more likely to buy goods manufactured in nearest neighbour New Zealand on 60% than any other foreign country, despite a fall of 1% point from 2021. Also faring well are goods made in two of Australia’s closest allies with preference for goods made in the UK up 3% points to 57% and up 5% points to 54% for goods made in the USA.
Of Australia’s top ten two-way trading partners in 2019-201* preferences for goods rose in five countries, including the UK and USA, and for three countries in the Asia-Pacific region led by Singapore on 39% (up 5% points), Malaysia on 25% (up 5% points) and India on 21% (up 2% points).
There were four other countries, apart from New Zealand, for which the preference for their goods fell slightly during 2022. These countries included Japan on 51% (down 1% point), Germany on 50% (down 1% point), South Korea on 32% (down 1% point) and China on only 21% (down 1% point).
Overall, of twenty-one countries Australians were asked this question about, preference for goods rose for fifteen countries, fell for another five countries, and was unchanged for only one country – Australia.
Australia and top ten two-way trading partners (2019-20)*: % of people more likely to buy products depending on country of origin, 2021 vs 2022
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), April 2020 – March 2021, n=66,050 and April 2021 – March 2022, n=65,365. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they would be more likely or less likely to buy products made in each of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, UK, USA and Vietnam.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says Australian-made goods have easily retained pole position as the preferred goods for Australians to buy but there were several countries which saw preference for their goods rise significantly over the last year:
1*Australia’s leading trading partners in 2019/20 according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Top 10 leading trading partners: 1. China (Including Hong Kong) ($264.3bn), 2. USA ($80.8bn), 3. Japan ($79.1bn), 4. South Korea ($38.9bn), 5. UK ($36.7bn), 6. Singapore ($31.3bn), 7. New Zealand ($28.7bn), 8. India ($26.2bn), 9. Germany ($21.8bn), 10. Malaysia ($21.6bn). DFAT: https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/australias-goods-services-by-top-15-partners-2019-20.pdf
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 |
