Roy Morgan Research
January 12, 2021

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 108.9 to start 2021, but 2.7pts higher than a year ago

Topic: Consumer Confidence, Press Release
Finding No: 8590
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ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 108.9 in the first reading of the year for January 9/10, 2021. Consumer Confidence has started the new year 12.9pts above the 2020 weekly average of 96.0 and is 2.7pts higher than the first week of 2020 (106.2).

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 108.9 in the first reading of the year for January 9/10, 2021. Consumer Confidence has started the new year 12.9pts above the 2020 weekly average of 96.0 and is 2.7pts higher than the first week of 2020 (106.2).

There was little change this week compared to the final reading of 2020 pre-Christmas but Australians are more positive than they were about buying major household items – which is at nine month highs in the first week of the new year.

It’s worth noting there is considerable uncertainty about the future economic prospects for the Australian economy with more than half of respondents not able to say whether to expect ‘good times’ or ‘bad times’ for the Australian economy over the next year and next five years.

Current financial conditions

  • Now 26% (up 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year and 28% (unchanged), say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.


Future financial conditions

  • In addition, 39% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year compared to 14% (up 2ppts) that expect to be ‘worse off’ financially.


Current economic conditions

  • An unchanged 15% of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months while 22% (up 1ppt), expect ‘bad times’.


Future economic conditions

  • In the longer term, over a fifth of Australians, 22% (down 2ppts), are expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to only 13% (down 1ppt) expecting ‘bad times’.


Time to buy a major household item

  • In good news for retailers a clear plurality of Australians, 44% (up 1ppt), say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the highest figure for this indicator for over eleven months since February 1/2, 2020), while only 24% (down 2ppts), say now is a ‘bad time to buy’ (the lowest figure for this indicator for over ten months since February 29/ March 1, 2020).


ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, commented:

Block Quote

“For the third year in a row, consumer confidence has begun the year on a flat/downbeat note compared to the pre-Christmas level. Given the Brisbane lockdown and the widespread border closures, the effectively flat result for confidence might be seen as a reasonably good outcome. But confidence usually rises over the holiday period. Between 2009 and 2018, consumer confidence rose 3.3% on average between the last survey of December and the first of January. In this context, the result for this survey should be viewed as soft. Interestingly, notwithstanding the short lockdown, confidence in Brisbane and rest of Queensland was up on the pre-Christmas week. On the other hand, confidence in New South Wales and Victoria declined, as borders closed.”


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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