ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence has fallen 3.1 points to 77.1 this week driven by falling confidence about personal finances and the Australian economy.
The index is now a large 10.6 points lower than a year ago and is now 2.9 points below the 2026 weekly average of 80.0.
Driving this week’s decrease was less confidence about the Australian economy over the next year and next five years, and less confidence about personal financial situations over the next year.
Just one-in-six Australians (17 per cent – down 1ppt) now say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 45 per cent (up 1ppt) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Around one-in-five (21 per cent – down 3ppts) expect their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while over a third (37 per cent – up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Net sentiment regarding the economy over the next year deteriorated significantly this week with only 7 per cent (down 2ppts) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 37 per cent (up 3ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Meanwhile, less than one in 10 Australians (8 per cent – down 2ppts) expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 28 per cent (unchanged) expecting ‘bad times’.
As for net buying intentions, 19 per cent (down 1ppt) of respondents say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 40 per cent (up 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said Australia’s consumer confidence remains at its lowest level since December 2023, on a four-week moving average basis.
“Households are feeling less confident in their personal finances and the economic outlook over the next 12 months,” Angala said. “While all subindexes show lower confidence compared to the 2025 average, both these measures have seen sharper drops from their 2025 averages, and the ‘future financial conditions’ subindex is at a multi-decade low.”
Angala added that ‘weekly inflation expectations’, another index measured by Roy Morgan, also ticked up last week, likely driven by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) consumer price index (CPI) data which showed stubborn inflation in January 2026. CPI rose 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to January, unchanged from 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025.
“With underlying inflation stickier than expected, we now expect the RBA to increase the cash rate by 25bp in May,” Angala said.
An analysis by state shows consumer confidence falling in most states this week, including in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, but it rose in Western Australia.