ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence dropped 2.4 points to 75.8 this week and has now spent a record 25 straight weeks below the mark of 80.
The decline in consumer confidence came as the Australian Dollar fell towards 64 US cents – the lowest level in over nine months since early November 2022, ANZ and Roy Morgan noted.
As the Australian Dollar declined, the price of imported energy such as oil surged and the average retail petrol price hit $2.05 per litre last week - the most expensive petrol price for over a year since mid-July 2022.
Consumer confidence is now 9.8 points below the same week a year ago and 2.3 points below the 2023 weekly average of 78.1. The index was down in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, but up slightly in both Western Australia and South Australia.
Declines in sentiment around personal finances and the future of the Australian economy over the next year and five years drove the index down this week, ANZ and Roy Morgan noted.
Now under a fifth of Australians (19% - down 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 53% (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Looking forward, 29% (down 2ppts) expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while 36% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Meanwhile, 7% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 39% (up 3ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Further ahead, only 10% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to just over a fifth (21% - up 2ppts), expecting ‘bad times’.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said despite the drop this week, the four-week moving average of the consumer confidence index continued to edge higher.
“Among the housing cohorts, confidence fell among outright homeowners and those renting, while it was nearly unchanged for those paying off their homes,” Timbrell said.
“Household inflation expectations jumped to 5.5% last week from 5.2% the week before.”