Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence, March Quarter 2026

March saw a small 1.8 point drop in the Westpac-McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence index, leaving it at a below average level of 94.7. (Note: A level below 100 indicates that there are more households who are pessimistic about the economic outlook than those who are optimistic.)

“Our latest survey was conducted through the first two weeks of March, at the same time as the conflict in the Middle East took hold. Against that increasingly uncertain global backdrop, households have grown a little more nervous about the economic outlook,” said Westpac Senior Economist Satish Ranchhod. “However, at the time we spoke to households, many will not have seen the full impact of the conflict or experienced the rise in fuel prices. The longer the conflict continues, the larger the resulting disruptions to economic activity and pressure on households' finances will be. That could see confidence dropping further over the coming months.”

“Many households actually told us that their financial position had improved over the past year, and that lifted spending appetites in recent months,” noted Mr Ranchhod. “However, cost of living pressures are picking up again, led by sharp increases in fuel prices. That will siphon funds from households’ pockets and could see households cutting back their spending again over the coming months.”

“Women remain much more pessimistic than men and their confidence has dropped this quarter by 4.7 points, down to an index score of 85.9. In contrast, men have experienced a small rise in confidence of 1.5 points to 104.1. Looking ahead to next year, both men and women have similar expectations for their personal finances, with around a quarter expecting to be worse off. The message is different when looking at New Zealand’s economic outlook, with women taking a much more pessimistic view than men: only around one in 10 women expect good economic times over the next 12 months, compared with close to four in 10 men,” said Imogen Rendall, Market Research Director of McDermott Miller Limited.

“For those who are in paid work, confidence has dropped by 3.3 points this quarter to 101.4. In contrast, for those who are not in paid work there was a smaller drop in confidence of 0.5 points to 86.2. Two in five of those in paid work expect to be worse off financially in a year’s time, compared with almost a third of those who are not in paid work feeling this way,” noted Ms Rendall.

The survey was conducted over 1-12 March 2026, with a sample size of 1,550. An index number over 100 indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists. The margin of error of the survey is 2.5%.

Acknowledgement

The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index is owned by McDermott Miller Limited. Westpac McDermott Miller should be acknowledged as the source when citing the Consumer Confidence Survey and Index. Graphs supplied may be reproduced by the news media provided Westpac McDermott Miller is acknowledged as the source.

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