Consumers across Australia are feeling slightly more confident over the last week as end of financial year sales (EOFYS) ramp up across the retail sector.
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence lifted by just 0.3 points to 86.7 this week, which appears to have been subdued by slowing Australian GDP growth, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported was estimated to be only 1.3 per cent over the last 12 months to March 2025.
Consumer confidence is 9.7 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 key driver for the slight lift was a large rise in the ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex, which hit its highest level since April 22.
“This was likely driven by the beginning of end-of-financial-year sales events,” Angala said. “Household financial confidence also rose last week, driven by improvement in the 12-month outlook.”
Spending across EOFY is expected to hit $10.5 billion this year, up by $400 million on 2024, also noted by Roy Morgan alongside the Australian Retailers Association.
However, the slight lift in consumer confidence was offset by increasing worries about the Australian economy’s performance over the next 12 months.
A fifth of Australians (20 per cent - up 2ppts) 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’.
Net views on personal finances over the next year were virtually unchanged this week with 25 per cent (down 1ppt) of respondents, expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year. This is the lowest figure for this indicator for over five years since late March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. This is compared to 30 per cent (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Views on the economy over the next year deteriorated this week with under one-in-eight Australians (12 per cent - down 2ppts) expecting ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to 30 per cent (up 2ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer-term was virtually unchanged this week with 13 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to a quarter (25 per cent - down 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.
As for net buying intentions, 25 per cent (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 34 per cent (down 2ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
“Soft headline GDP data last week [from ABS] may have driven weaker economic confidence,” Angala added. “Although the data showed robust yearly growth in household disposable incomes and a per capita rise in real incomes, which should support upward momentum in ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence in the coming months.”