ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has fallen for the second straight week after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged at 3.6 per cent.
Consumer confidence is now at 83, down 2.1 points on last week and 3.3 points down from two weeks ago.
The measure is now at its lowest for over a year but is virtually unchanged on the same week a year ago. It is also 3.7 points below the 2025 weekly average of 86.7.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said on a four-week moving average basis, consumer confidence is at its lowest level since October 2024.
“The softness in confidence was broad-based, but notably, household confidence in the economy over the next five years has dropped to its lowest level in over 15 years,” Angala said. “Globally, the US federal government shutdown, ongoing trade policy uncertainty and political uncertainty in Japan and France may have been behind this.
Across the housing cohorts, Angala said the fall in confidence was driven by mortgage-holders, which may have been due to discussion about the possibility of an RBA cash rate hold in November.
“We now expect the RBA to deliver the final 25bp rate cut in February 2026,” Angala said. “Confidence also fell for renters and outright homeowners.”
The index was dragged down by less net confidence about personal finances and the prospects for the Australian economy over the short and long-term.
Just a fifth of Australians (20 per cent - unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to a rising 45 per cent (up 4ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
A quarter of respondents (25 per cent - down 1ppt) now expect their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32 per cent (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Net sentiment regarding the economy over the next year deteriorated slightly this week with just 9 per cent (unchanged) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 32 per cent (up 2ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
In the longer-term, 10 per cent of Australians (down 2ppts) now expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 28 per cent (up 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’. The latter number is the lowest figure for this indicator for over five years since March 2020, with the overall net result for this indicator being the lowest for over three decades since January 1991.
Meanwhile, net buying intentions were virtually unchanged this week with 23 per cent (up 1ppt) of respondents saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 35 per cent (up 1ppt) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
An analysis by state shows mixed results with declines in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, only partially offset by small increases in Queensland and Western Australia.