ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has swung back from recent slumps, but not by much.
The index lifted 1.7 points to 86.3 this week, just before the Reserve Bank made its call to hold interest rates at 3.6 per cent.
Consumer confidence is now 4.3 points above the same week a year ago, and just 0.5 points below the 2025 weekly average of 86.8.
The main driver of this week’s increase was an improvement in buying sentiment by a net 3 percentage points compared to a week ago.
Just over a fifth of Australians (22 per cent – up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 42 per cent (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year improved marginally with 29 per cent (up 2ppts) of respondents expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 33 per cent (up 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
One in ten Australians (10 per cent – up 2ppts) now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 29 per cent (unchanged) that expect ‘bad times’.
In the longer-term, 10 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to a quarter (25 per cent – down 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
Net buying intentions drove this week’s increase with over a fifth of respondents (23 per cent – up 2ppts) saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 33 per cent (down 1ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala correctly predicted that the RBA will keep the cash rate at 3.6 per cent this week, as inflation continues to remain stubborn.
“On a 4-week moving average basis, weekly inflation expectations have largely moved sideways over the past year, suggesting inflation expectations are anchored,” Angala said.
Angala added that Roy Morgan’s weekly inflation expectations rose 0.1ppt last week after the monthly CPI indicator showed headline inflation at 3.0 per cent over the year to August. That is at the top of the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target band.
Meanwhile, an analysis by state shows a broad trend with consumer confidence reversing the results of last week and increasing in the four largest states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but down in South Australia.