Media Release

Overall confidence highest in Iron Triangle, Far North and Eyre Peninsula

Comprising the Iron Triangle, Far North and Eyre Peninsula, the State’s West and North region is the most confident rural centre in South Australia, the latest BankSA State Monitor survey shows.

After reporting the largest decrease in the last State Monitor in June, the West and North rebounded this survey to be the only rural region reporting an increase in confidence, which has moved it from being the least confident region to the most confident across rural and metropolitan South Australia.

The September 2014 BankSA State Monitor is the 55th in a series that has tracked consumer and business confidence in the State for more than 15 years.

The survey results show that overall business and consumer confidence in the West and North lifted 8.1 index points this survey, to 106.3 points. This compares to overall confidence levels in the Mid-North and Riverland of 104.1 points, and 94.6 index points in the Southern region.

Business confidence in the West and North, rose 12.5 index points since the last survey in June to 115.5 points in the September survey, while consumer confidence reported a more modest lift of 3.8 index points since the last survey, to 97.1 points.

A closer look at results for the West and North region shows:

Business confidence: a total of 85% of businesses are positive about their current business situation, up from 64% in the previous survey in June 2014, while 56% are worried about the downturn in turnover, a rise from 48% in the last survey.

Consumer confidence: a total of 21% of consumers reported making a major purchase in the past three months, down from 36% in the previous survey, while 65% felt confident about their household situation, a slight fall of 1% since the last survey.

Overall, the September BankSA State Monitor shows that confidence levels among consumers in rural South Australia have experienced a modest lift of four index points to 100.2. However, the same rebound is not reflected among rural business owners, where confidence has fallen 1.4 points to 103.9 index points since the last survey in June.

BankSA State Monitor is an ongoing independent survey conducted three times a year on South Australian consumer and business confidence. The survey commenced in November 1997 and surveys 300 consumers and 300 business owners across the State.