Confidence in NZ’s economic future dropping, poll finds

October 9, 2021

The latest 1News Colmar Brunton poll asked people how the economy will fare over the next year and there's been a big drop since May.

Confidence is dented and people are feeling much more negative about our economic future, according to the latest 1News Colmar Brunton poll.

The poll asked: “Do you think, during the next 12 months, the economy will be in a better state than present, or in a worse state?”

Of all respondents, 37% think it would get worse. That’s an increase of 7 percentage points since May.

Only 34% think the economy will get better, a drop of 9 percentage points.

The rest think the economy will stay the same.

1News put those numbers to the Finance Minister.

“I think people can see the success we've had with the approach we've taken. A strong public health approach has delivered strong economic outcomes,” Grant Robertson said.

“We've got low unemployment, very strong economic growth, our debt has stayed at a manageable level.”

He put the numbers down to the fact parts of the country were in Alert Level 3

“That will affect the mood of people - that is completely understandable.

“But, the New Zealand economy is resilient.”

National leader Judith Collins said her party would do a better job of managing the economy.

Collins said having a strong economy would “help us pay for the health system [and] our education”.

She said National would be able to bring its business experience and its “attitude towards the economy”.

Andrew Radcliffe runs an IT company in Auckland. He said attracting Kiwi talent, having staff working at home, and the uncertainty of when the borders will open were making it tough.

“The biggest problem for us we're seeing is a lot of our customers have stopped paying their bills and probably because they just don't have any certainty about what will happen next.”

Shamubeel Eaqub says New Zealand would see "immense pain and suffering", akin to the recent measles outbreak, if it opens up to the world too soon.

Auckland Business Chamber’s Michael Barnett said many small and medium businesses were feeling grief and hopelessness.

“They’re waiting for a plan to recover the economy,” Barnett said.

He said that plan needed to “blend” economic and health outcomes.

Between September 22-26, 2021, 1001 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (501) and online (500). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region and ethnic identification. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel.


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