Roy Morgan Research
November 16, 2021

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 3pts to 106.0 as worries about inflation mount

Topic: Consumer Confidence, Press Release
Finding No: 8860
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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was down 3pts to 106.0 on the second weekend of November. Consumer Confidence is now below the 2021 weekly average of 108.2 and 0.6 points lower than the same week a year ago, November 14/15, 2020 (106.6). This is the first time Consumer Confidence has dropped below its level of a year ago for almost a year, since late November 2020.

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was down 3pts to 106.0 on the second weekend of November. Consumer Confidence is now below the 2021 weekly average of 108.2 and 0.6 points lower than the same week a year ago, November 14/15, 2020 (106.6). This is the first time Consumer Confidence has dropped below its level of a year ago for almost a year, since late November 2020.

Consumer Confidence this week was down in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania but the exception was Queensland which had a small increase. This week’s decrease was driven by Australians becoming less confident about their personal financial situations compared to a year ago and their expected financial positions this time next year.

Current financial conditions

  • Now 29% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 28% (up 2ppts), that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.


Future financial conditions

  • A decreasing plurality of 38% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, compared to 17% (up 2ppts) that expect to be ‘worse off’ financially.


Current economic conditions

  • Now a fifth, 20% (up 1ppt), of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months which is matched by 20% (up 1ppt), that expect ‘bad times’.


Future economic conditions

  • In the longer term, under a fifth of Australians, 18% (down 2ppts), are expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 19% (up 2ppts) expecting ‘bad times’.


Time to buy a major household item

  • Buying intentions weakened slightly this week with 39% (down 1ppt) of Australians, saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 30% (up 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, commented:

Block Quote

“‘Consumer confidence dropped 2.8% last week, possibly influenced by the weaker-than-expected employment data for October. Elevated inflation expectations may also be dragging sentiment down, particularly given the headlines about global inflation pressures following the rise in the US CPI. Both weekly inflation expectations and its four-week moving average rose 0.1ppt to 5.0%. The drop in confidence about ‘current financial conditions’ may reflect concerns about rising prices, though this subindex is higher than it was this time last year despite the sharp rise in inflation expectations since then.”


Related Research Reports

The latest Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Monthly Report is available on the Roy Morgan Online Store. It provides demographic breakdowns for Age, Sex, State, Region (Capital Cities/ Country), Generations, Lifecycle, Socio-Economic Scale, Work Status, Occupation, Home Ownership, Voting Intention, Roy Morgan Value Segments and more

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size Percentage Estimate
40% – 60% 25% or 75% 10% or 90% 5% or 95%
1,000 ±3.0 ±2.7 ±1.9 ±1.3
5,000 ±1.4 ±1.2 ±0.8 ±0.6
7,500 ±1.1 ±1.0 ±0.7 ±0.5
10,000 ±1.0 ±0.9 ±0.6 ±0.4
20,000 ±0.7 ±0.6 ±0.4 ±0.3
50,000 ±0.4 ±0.4 ±0.3 ±0.2

Related Findings

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