NZ Consumer Confidence Deteriorates Further
2026-03-26 21:32
By
Felipe Alarcon
1 min. read
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence decreased to 91.3 in March 2026 from 100.1 in February, reflecting a U-turn in response to the uncertainty brought about by the Middle East conflict.
The share of households seeing it as a good time to purchase a major household item, a key retail indicator, fell 10 points to -14, solidly back in negative territory.
The future conditions index fell to its October level (96.7 vs 106.9) and the current conditions index dropped to below its December level (83.1 vs 90.0).
Assessments of current personal finances also declined (-20% vs -16%), indicating that the recent bump in the road is being felt through experience.
A net 10% of respondents see their financial situation to be better a year from now.
Expectations for the economy over the next year decreased 17 points to -25%, while the 5-year-ahead outlook fell 3 points to 5%.
Lastly, house price inflation expectations lifted (3.8% vs 3.6%), while 2-year inflation expectations rose to 5.7% from 4.7%.