NZ Westpac Consumer Sentiment

Spring is finally here! The days are getting longer. The weather is warming up. And consumer confidence has taken a (small) step higher. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose 9 points in September, reversing most of the fall we saw last quarter. Confidence about the economic landscape is still low, with many households continuing to face some tough financial conditions. However, it looks like some of the pessimism about the outlook is now starting to ease. Financial pressures remain front of mind for most New ...

New Zealand households have been feeling a bit perkier. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose 4.3 points in March, taking it to a level of 93.2. That’s still below the 100 level, signalling that the number of New Zealanders who are feeling pessimistic about economic conditions still outnumbers those that are feeling optimistic. However, some of households’ concerns about financial pressures are starting to ease, and that has seen confidence picking up to its highest level in more than two years. Stepping back ...

The holiday season is upon us. The weather is warming up. Champagne corks are popping. And New Zealand households are starting to feel more upbeat – or at least less pessimistic – about the economic outlook. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose 8.7 points in December, taking it to a level of 88.9. That’s still well below average, with many more New Zealanders feeling pessimistic about economic conditions than those who feel optimistic. However, the rise in the index in recent months is an encouraging sign, with ...

Spring is in the air. The weather is improving. And… well… it turns out most of us are still feeling pretty gloomy. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index fell 2.9 points in September, dropping to a level of 80.2. That’s well below average, and signals that the number of New Zealand households who are pessimistic about the economic landscape continues to outweigh those who are optimistic by a wide margin. Looking at what drove September’s drop in consumer confidence, financial pressures remain front of mind for New ...

Consumer confidence remains in the doldrums. Despite rising by 5.4 points in June, the Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index is still only sitting at 83.1. That’s well below average and signals that the number of New Zealand households who are pessimistic about the economic environment continues to outweigh those who are optimistic by a wide margin. Consumer confidence has been lingering around these sorts of extremely low levels for more than a year now, with confidence weak across all age groups and income brackets. ...

The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose 2.1 points in the March quarter to a level of 77.7. However, that follows a sharp fall over the past year, and still leaves confidence at extremely weak levels. The number of New Zealanders who are pessimistic about the economic environment continues to outweigh the number who are optimistic by a wide margin. To put the results of our latest survey in context, confidence remains around the sorts of levels that we saw during the recession in the early-1990s and again during ...

The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index fell 12 points in the December quarter to a level of 75.6. With confidence well below the benchmark level of 100, this signals that there are many more New Zealanders out there who are pessimistic about the economic environment than there are those who are optimistic. Confidence has only come close to these sorts of lows twice before - first during the recession in the early-1990s, and then again during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008/09. Inflation – the grinch that stole ...