It may only be the middle of January, but there’s a sense of optimism in the air about Australia’s 2021 economic future according to new research.
In December 2020 data from Roy Morgan found Business Confidence had jumped 12.9 per cent to 123.2 – the highest monthly reading for three years since January 2018 (123.5). Business Confidence has now increased a record 43.9 per cent over the last three months, which spells good news for the fleet management sector as well. Here’s why.
As published by AfMA earlier this year, data has shown that the new vehicle market in Australia is also showing incredible signs of growth. December 2020 recorded 95,652 sales, a 13.5 per cent increase over the same period in December 2019, while sales in November 2020 grew 12.4 per cent on the previous year.
“Business Confidence has had its strongest three-month run since the Index began more than a decade ago increasing by over 37pts since September as Victoria battled thousands of cases of COVID-19 and other States kept their borders largely closed,” Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan said.
“The most confident industries in December are Property & Business Services, Wholesale, Transport, Postal & Warehousing, Agriculture, Public Administration & Defence and Community Services all with Business Confidence well above the national average in excess of 125.
In good news an increasing majority of businesses, 59.7 per cent of respondents, said the next 12 months is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’ – the highest figure for this indicator for over seven years since October 2013. Interestingly over a third of businesses, 37.1 per cent, said the business was ‘better off’ financially than this time a year ago while 39.8 per cent said the business is ‘worse off’.
News of business confidence is certainly welcome relief with Australia’s JobKeeper program set to cease by March of this year. It’s a move the government has justified by pointing to figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Agency (APRA) that suggests businesses and consumers have an additional $200 billion sitting in their accounts as rates of saving soared during the pandemic.
“The massive increases in Business Confidence since September certainly suggest Australian businesses are looking forward with confidence that 2021 will be a standout year as a re-opened and reinvigorated economy offers tremendous opportunities to invest and grow,” Ms Levine said.
What is 2021 set to look like for your business and can AfMA help you realise that goal? Drop us an email at [email protected] to get the discussion going.
