Australia's NAB business confidence index edged down to 0 in February 2024 from 1 in January. Figures were below the long-run average, with the retail sector being a major drag amid high borrowing costs and elevated inflation. Meanwhile, business conditions rose, back above their average (10 vs 7 in January), as sales (14 vs 9) and profitability (9 vs 6) picked up while employment grew further (6 vs 5). Forward orders continued to ease (-3 vs -2), as did capacity utilization (83.4% vs 83.7%). Labor cost growth stayed at 2.0% in quarterly equivalent terms, while purchase cost growth was steady at 1.8%. Product price growth quickened to 1.3% from 1.1%, retail price growth rose to 1.4% from 0.9%, and recreation & personal services prices increased more (1.3% vs 1.1%). "These results are a good reminder that the progress on inflation to date has been driven by an improvement in global supply and from here, the improvement is unlikely to be linear,” said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster. source: National Australia Bank

Business Confidence in Australia decreased to 0 points in February from 1 points in January of 2024. Business Confidence in Australia averaged 5.07 points from 1997 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 23.00 points in October of 2021 and a record low of -68.00 points in March of 2020. This page provides - Australia Business Confidence - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Australia Business Confidence - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2024.

Business Confidence in Australia decreased to 0 points in February from 1 points in January of 2024. Business Confidence in Australia is expected to be -3.00 points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Australia Business Confidence is projected to trend around 5.00 points in 2025 and 4.00 points in 2026, according to our econometric models.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2024-02-13 12:30 AM
NAB Business Confidence
Jan 1 0 1
2024-03-12 12:30 AM
NAB Business Confidence
Feb 0 1 -1
2024-04-09 01:30 AM
NAB Business Confidence
Mar 0 -3


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
Bankruptcies 515.00 555.00 Companies Feb 2024
Building Capital Expenditure 1.50 0.10 percent Dec 2023
NAB Business Confidence 0.00 1.00 points Feb 2024
Business Inventories -1.70 1.20 percent Dec 2023
Capacity Utilization 83.40 83.69 percent Feb 2024
Car Registrations 16245.00 18470.00 Units Dec 2023
Changes in Inventories -2709.00 -640.00 AUD Million Dec 2023
Composite Leading Indicator 99.11 99.00 points Feb 2024
Judo Bank Composite PMI Flash 52.40 52.10 points Mar 2024
Company Gross Profits 140963.00 131285.00 AUD Million Dec 2023
Corruption Index 75.00 75.00 Points Dec 2023
Corruption Rank 14.00 13.00 Dec 2023
Industrial Production 0.00 1.80 percent Sep 2023
Industrial Production Mom -1.00 0.50 percent Sep 2023
Ai Group Industry Index -14.90 -27.30 points Feb 2024
Ai Group Services Index -22.40 -23.60 points Nov 2023
Ai Group Construction Index -18.40 -11.50 points Feb 2024
Ai Group Manufacturing Index -12.60 -23.80 points Feb 2024
Westpac Leading Index MoM 0.10 -0.10 percent Feb 2024
Judo Bank Manufacturing PMI Flash 46.80 47.80 points Mar 2024
Manufacturing Production 0.00 -0.30 percent Sep 2023
Mining Production 0.20 1.20 percent Sep 2023
New Orders 9.00 13.00 points Dec 2023
Plant Machinery Capital Expenditure -0.10 0.60 percent Dec 2023
Private Capital Expenditure 0.80 0.30 percent Dec 2023
Judo Bank Services PMI Flash 53.50 53.10 points Mar 2024
Small Business Sentiment -9.43 -4.09 points Dec 2023
New Motor Vehicle Sales YoY 105023.00 89782.00 Units Feb 2024

Australia Business Confidence
The NAB monthly survey of business confidence is based on a telephone survey of around 600 small, medium and large size non-agricultural companies. The Survey measures the expectations of business conditions for the upcoming month and is a simple average of trading, profitability and employment indices, reported by respondents for their company. The indices are calculated by taking the difference between the percentage of respondents nominating good or very good, or a rise and those nominating poor or very poor, or a fall.
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
0.00 1.00 23.00 -68.00 1997 - 2024 points Monthly
SA

News Stream
Australia Business Sentiment Subdued
Australia's NAB business confidence index edged down to 0 in February 2024 from 1 in January. Figures were below the long-run average, with the retail sector being a major drag amid high borrowing costs and elevated inflation. Meanwhile, business conditions rose, back above their average (10 vs 7 in January), as sales (14 vs 9) and profitability (9 vs 6) picked up while employment grew further (6 vs 5). Forward orders continued to ease (-3 vs -2), as did capacity utilization (83.4% vs 83.7%). Labor cost growth stayed at 2.0% in quarterly equivalent terms, while purchase cost growth was steady at 1.8%. Product price growth quickened to 1.3% from 1.1%, retail price growth rose to 1.4% from 0.9%, and recreation & personal services prices increased more (1.3% vs 1.1%). "These results are a good reminder that the progress on inflation to date has been driven by an improvement in global supply and from here, the improvement is unlikely to be linear,” said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster.
2024-03-12
Australia Business Sentiment Remains Weak
Australia's NAB business confidence index edged up to 1 in January 2024 from an upwardly revised zero in the prior month but stayed below the long-run average. Manufacturing and construction mainly supported the improvement while wholesale and retail sentiment fell. Meantime, business conditions eased, falling below their average due to declines in sales (8 vs 11 in December), profits (5 vs 7), and employment (5 vs 7). Forward orders stayed soft (-1 vs -3) but capacity utilization picked up (83.6% vs 82.8%). Further, labor cost growth was unchanged at 2% in quarterly equivalent terms, while purchase cost growth edged up to 1.8%. Output price growth rebounded slightly, with retail price growth rising to 0.9% in quarterly terms, from 0.5%, and product price growth rose to 1.2%. "We will keep a close watch on how confidence evolves through early 2024 as price pressures ease further and the focus on the easing phase of the rates cycle grows,” said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster.
2024-02-13
Australia Business Mood Bounces Back
Australia's NAB business confidence index climbed to -1 in December 2023 from a downwardly revised -8 in the prior month. It was the third straight month of negative readings but the softest figure in the sequence, supported by a pick-up in the mining and retail sectors. Meantime, business conditions slowed but stayed above the long-run average (7 vs 9 in November) as sales eased (10 vs 13) while profits were sustained (6 vs 6) and employment eased slightly (7 vs 8). Leading indicators were mixed, with forward orders edging up (-3 vs -4) but capacity utilization fell (82.7% vs 83.6%). Importantly, labor and purchase cost growth eased while retail prices dropped sharply to 0.6%, the lowest since late 2020, from the prior 1.8%. "The survey shows that economic growth had eased considerably by the end of 2023 after performing better than expected for much of the year, and this slowing is beginning to translate into improvement in inflation," said NAB's chief economist Alan Oster.
2024-01-23