Consumer confidence down as inflation expectations rise

Consumer confidence declined 1.6 points last week to 85.5 points. The four-week moving average increased 0.3 points to 85.1 points.

‘Weekly inflation expectations’ lifted 0.2 percentage point to 5.6 per cent, while the four-week moving average increased 0.1 percentage point to 5.4 per cent.

‘Current financial conditions’ (over the last year) fell 0.9 points, while ‘future financial conditions’ (next 12 months) declined 2.5 points.

‘Short-term economic confidence’ (next 12 months) fell 2.9 points, and ‘medium-term economic confidence’ (next five years) dropped 5.3 points.

The ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex increased 4.1 points

ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said:  "Australian Consumer Confidence declined 1.6pts last week, with households feeling less confident about the economic outlook and their own finances. However, Black Friday sales appear to have boosted the ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex, which rose to its highest level since March 2022.

"The stronger than expected inflation data may have impacted household confidence. It is also likely to have affected household views about the inflation outlook, with inflation expectations rising to their highest level in almost two years. The inflation expectations measure has been trending higher through 2025 and is currently 1.3 percentage point above the pre- COVID five-year average."

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