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Consumer Confidence Remains Steady but Case Spike Causes Concern

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By Power RetailPublished On: December 15, 20210 Comments

In the lead up to Christmas, consumer confidence is steady at 108.0 - this is a minor increase of 0.5pts. There have been increases across the country, but this was offset by a major fall in NSW.

The figures remain in line with the 2021 weekly average of 108.1 but are persistently below the same period last year (111.2).

There have been increases across the country, led by Queensland, WA, Tasmania and SA. Despite this incremental lift, there has been a 6.2pt drop in NSW as COVID cases increase across the state.

According to Roy Morgan, 43 percent of consumers say that now is a good time to buy a major household item – an increase of 2ppts. In contrast, 27 percent say that now is a bad time to buy a major household item, which remains unchanged.

“Consumer confidence rose 0.5 percent last week ahead of the Queensland border reopening to NSW and Victoria (from Monday). Consumer confidence in Queensland rose by 5.2 percent,” said Adeliade Timbrell, the ANZ Senior Economist.

“Confidence also rose in South Australia (8.8 percent) and Western Australia (4.1 percent), while it was virtually unchanged in Victoria (+0.1 percent). Meanwhile, a rise in new COVID cases in NSW on Saturday led to a decline in confidence of 5.5 percent in the state, which substantially offset the overall index. The drop in inflation expectations to 4.7 percent was consistent with a 4.5 percent decrease in national petrol prices over the past two weeks.”

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