In mid April the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating is at 103.4 (up 0.8 points). This is 3.3 points higher than it was in April 2008 (100.1). Interviewing for this Consumer Confidence Rating was conducted on the weekend of April 11/12, 2009.
Improvements in confidence about the future have driven the Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating slightly higher this week.
Australians confidence regarding the next 5 years is at its highest since January 2009 with 37% (up 2%) of Australians expecting Australia to have ‘good times’ economically over the next five years. This measure has not been higher for nearly 18 months, since December 2007 (39%). Only 17% (down 4%) of Australians expect ‘bad times’ economically over the next five years.
Looking forward to the next 12 months, 17% (up 2%) of Australians say that Australia will have ‘good times financially’ over the next 12 months compared to 52% (down 3%) that say we’ll have ‘bad times’ over the next 12 months.
Now 37% (down 2%) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year compared to 17% (up 1%) of Australians that expect their family to be ‘worse off financially.’
Also, 27% (down 3%) of Australians say their family is ‘better off financially’ than they were this time last year compared to 33% (up 1%) of Australians that say their family is ‘worse off financially.’
Despite a drop a larger number of Australians 45% (down 1%) say ‘now is a good time to buy’ major household items compared to 28% (up 1%) that say ‘now is a bad time to buy’ major household items.
Gary Morgan says:
“Continuing high unemployment hasn’t stopped the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating from rising for a fourth straight week — up 0.8pts to 103.4. (Up 9.9pts since March 14/15).
“Australians are increasingly confident about the future, with more Australians expecting good times in Australia economically over the next 12 months (17%, up 2%) and over the longer-term of five years (37%, up 2%).
“Cheques from the Rudd Government’s $42 billion second stimulus plan are currently arriving in Australian bank accounts and this is helping to support the Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating.
“Despite these improvements however, this week’s Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating of 103.4 remains below the 36-year average of 106.1, indicating that confidence is still weak by historic standards.”
This weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating is based on 987 face-to-face interviews conducted Australia-wide with men and women aged 14 and over on the weekends of April 11-12, 2009.
For more detailed report and the data see Roy Morgan Research’s site
