Consumer confidence unchanged following election

However the ANZ Roy-Morgan Consumer Confidence is now a significant 20.7 pts below the same week a year ago, and still 5.6 pts below the 2022 weekly average of 96.3. On a state-based basis consumer confidence was up in NSW and unchanged in Victoria, but slightly down in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

The latest results showed that only 21 per cent Australians (down 2 ppts) said their families are “better off” financially than this time last year – the lowest figure for this indicator for nearly two years since July 2020 – compared to 40 per cent (up 1 ppt), who said their families are “worse off” financially.

Looking forward, nearly a third of Australians, expect their family to be “better off” financially this time next year compared to 28 per cent who expect to be “worse off” financially.

An unchanged 10 per cent of Australians expect “good times” for the Australian economy over the next 12 months compared to 28 per cent who expect “bad times”.

In the longer term, just 14 per cent of Australians are expecting “good times” for the economy over the next five years compared to 17 per cent expecting “bad times”.

Buying intentions have recovered this week, with 29 per cent of Australians, saying now is a “good time to buy” major household items while 39 per cent said now is a “bad time to buy”.

ANZ head of Australian economics, David Plank, said of the four elections prior to this one, there has been little immediate reaction in consumer confidence, with no large swings in either direction.

“Confidence going into the 2022 election was, however, well below previous pre-election levels. And it remains at a historically low level. Inflation expectations rose to 5.5 per cent, its highest level since early April, and it likely reflects the rise in petrol prices,” he said.