Upward momentum in consumer confidence has stalled over the last week, according to ANZ and Roy Morgan.
The pair’s consumer confidence index was virtually unchanged for a third straight week at 86.7 this week, officially nudging up by just 0.4 percentage points.
Consumer confidence is 3.6 points above the same week a year ago and in line with the 2025 weekly average of 86.5.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the slight rise in optimism over Australia’s economy may have been driven by the array of trade deals reached by the US and other trading partners over the past week. It must be noted this came before US President Donald Trump expanded its de minimis exemption to all countries.
“The four-week moving average of consumer confidence has moved within a tight range of 85–88pts since October 2024,” Angala said. “Recent trade policy uncertainty and the RBA’s surprise decision to hold the cash rate in July have kept confidence from rising, despite rising average incomes.
“We expect the RBA to cut the cash rate in August and November. Along with further rises in incomes, this should support consumer confidence later in the year.”
Across the index, a fifth of Australians (20 per cent – unchanged) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 44 per cent (down 1ppt) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Net views on personal finances over the next year were down slightly for a second straight week with 26 per cent (unchanged) of respondents expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 34 per cent (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Sentiment regarding the economy over the next year was virtually unchanged this week with just 12 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months, compared to 28 per cent (unchanged) that expect ‘bad times’.
Views regarding the Australian economy in the longer-term were also unchanged this week with 13 per cent (unchanged) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 23 per cent (unchanged) expecting ‘bad times’.
Meanwhile, buying intentions improved slightly from a week ago with a quarter of respondents (25 per cent – up 1ppt) saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 33 per cent (down 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
An analysis by state shows mixed results with consumer confidence up in Victoria and Queensland, but down slightly in New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia.