ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence dropped 2.1 points to 83.4 this week.
The drop comes amid the start of early voting in the Federal election, with main voting this Saturday, May 3.
Consumer confidence is 2.2 points above the same week a year ago, but 2.7 points below the 2025 weekly average of 86.1.
A look across the index shows the driver of the weekly decrease were increasing concerns about one’s personal finances over the next 12 months and longer-term worries about the Australian economy.
Fewer than a fifth of Australians (15 per cent - down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 47 per cent (up 1ppt) that say their families are ‘worse off’. The former is the lowest figure for this indicator for nearly two years since June 2023.
Net views on personal finances over the next year declined as concern about the next 12 months fell, with 26 per cent (down 3ppts) of respondents expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year. This is the lowest figure for this indicator for five years since April 2020 in the early days of the pandemic. Meanwhile 30 per cent (up 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Views on the economy over the next year were unchanged this week with 10 per cent of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 29 per cent that expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term dropped this week with 11 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 23 per cent (up 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
Net buying intentions also declined slightly this week with 22 per cent (unchanged) of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 38 per cent (down 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said households are feeling less confident in the economic outlook.
“We expect growth in the US and China to slow in 2025, following increased economic uncertainty from US tariff announcements,” Angala said. “The implications for Australia are likely to flow from the impacts on global growth and local confidence, and it appears that the upward trend in the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence series from rising disposable incomes has been weakened by global uncertainty.”
An analysis by state shows mixed results with the weekly decrease driven by falls in Victoria and Queensland, with the index virtually unchanged in New South Wales and Western Australia and actually increased slightly in South Australia.