ANZ-Roy Morgan’s latest Consumer Confidence Index has recorded a 4.9-point increase in the first week of 2023 to 87.4 — the largest increase since September 2022 and the first new year’s jump since 2018.
The improvement was driven by a surge in confidence in “current economic conditions”, up 6.1 points, while confidence in “future economic conditions” rose 3.3 points.
Weekly inflation expectations also dipped, falling 0.9 percentage points to 5 per cent.
However, the improvement in consumer confidence remains below the long-run average of 111.7.
The release of the consumer confidence data has coincided with the latest Monthly Household Spending Indicator from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), up 11.4 per cent year-on-year in November 2022 — the 21st consecutive increase.
All states and territories reported an increase in household spending in November 2022 when compared to the previous corresponding period.
The Northern Territory (16.1 per cent) recorded the largest increase, followed by Queensland (12.3 per cent), South Australia (12.2 per cent), Western Australia (11.6 per cent), NSW and Tasmania (11.4 per cent), Victoria (11.1 per cent), and the ACT (8.2 per cent).
However, according to Jacqui Vitas, ABS head of macroeconomic statistics, this latest rise was “less significant” than previous months, given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic towards the end of 2021.
“The highest increases were in spending in transport (35.8 per cent) and hotels, cafes and restaurants (23.8 per cent), but growth slowed in comparison to previous months,” she added.
