Buying Intentions Increase 14.2% Over Two-Week Period

There have been signs of improvement across Australia in the last week, with consumer confidence increasing three percentage points to 84.7.

However, this remains well below the 2022 weekly average of 94.2. Moreover, it’s a significant 27.5 points below the same period in 2021, which was 112.2.

“Consumer confidence increased 3.7 percent last week, possibly helped by the state budget initiatives in NSW and Queensland,” said David Plank, the ANZ Head of Australian Economics.

“Confidence increased by 4.3 percent and 5.2 percent in NSW and Queensland respectively. Household inflation expectations dropped 0.2ppt to 5.7 percent, despite an increase in the average petrol price over the week.”

Alongside the increase in consumer confidence, there has been a similar rise in buying intentions. Across Australia, there has been a three percentage point increase for those saying that now is a good time to buy major household items (27 percent). In contrast, 47 percent of Aussies say that now is a bad time to buy major household items, decreasing by five percentage points.

“The subindex capturing whether it is a good ‘time to buy a major household item’ has jumped 14.2 percent over the past two weeks and was the biggest driver of last week’s gain in confidence,” Plank continued.

“The improvement in sentiment doesn’t mask the fact that it remains exceptionally weak, with all subindices well below neutral. We expect this week’s retail figures for May to confirm that spending is holding up despite low confidence.”

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