Roy Morgan Research
June 14, 2022

Preference for Australian-made goods unchanged at 96% in 2022; goods from NZ, UK and USA are also highly rated

Topic: Press Release
Finding No: 8984

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:

Block Quote
“A nearly unanimous 96% of Australians say they are more likely to buy a product that is marked as ‘made in Australia’, unchanged on a year ago. In comparison, less than 1% of Australians say they are less likely to buy a product that is ‘made in Australia’.
“Support for buying Australian-made goods shot-up during 2020 and the first year of the pandemic and has remained high ever since as the closure of international borders and restrictions on travel during the last two years has clearly boosted the attraction of buying locally made goods.
“There were several other countries that improved their standings in the eyes of Australians over the last year. A majority of 54% of Australians now say they are more likely to buy goods from the USA, up 5% points from a year ago, and there were similar increases for goods from Singapore now on 39% (up 5% points) and Malaysia on 25% (up 5% points).
“Of course, there were also losers, with goods from some countries falling out of favour over the last year. Most notably is goods from China with a clear majority of 65% of Australians saying they would be less likely to buy a product that is ‘made in China’, up 5% points from a year ago and up by a massive 21% points from two years ago.
“The trading relationship between China and Australia has deteriorated significantly over the last two years with the former Government’s call for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19 proving particularly irritating for the Chinese Government. In response to these calls the Chinese Government slapped tariffs and import restrictions on a range of Australian goods including wine, barley, lobsters, coal, timber, red meat and cotton.
“Nevertheless, the two-way trade between the two nations was valued at $264 billion in 2019/20 , well over three times the value of two-way trade with Australia’s second largest trading partner the United States ($81 billion). Most of that trade is also in Australia’s favour with local exports to China valued at around $177 billion – around two-thirds of the total value of trade.
“Interestingly, there is a clear split between the generations when it comes to trade with China. Over 70% of Pre-Boomers (born pre-1946) and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1960) say they would be ‘less likely’ to buy a product marked as ‘made in China’ compared to a bare majority of 56% of those in Generation Z (born 1991-2008).”

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

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