Economic Insight

The CCIWA Business Confidence Survey is the longest running and most comprehensive business survey in WA. Produced quarterly it covers businesses of all sizes and sectors across the state and includes:

• Expert analysis about the short and medium-term business confidence
• Comprehensive data regarding issues such as labour costs, profitability, and capital expenditure

The first of its kind in the State, the CCIWA Consumer Confidence survey provides invaluable insights into the attitudes and sentiments of Western Australian consumers.

Analysis includes:

• Short and medium-term expectations of economic conditions provided by metropolitan and regional consumers
• The major concerns for consumers in the current economic climate – including spending habits, employment prospects and financial health

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2018

Outlook is a biannual CCIWA publication that provides expert forward-looking economic analysis. It contains:

• Analysis of the state, national and international economies
• Economic forecasts on key indicators such as inflation, the labour force and employment

Produced by our well-informed and market-conscious economics team, Outlook makes sure you stay ahead of the current and expected changes in economic conditions.

For further information, please contact Economics@cciwa.com

March 2023 Report

The world economy teeters on a knife-edge. Global interest rates are increasing at their fastest pace in history in response to sky-rocketing inflation, while at the same time legacy stimulus measures continue to bolster economies. But against this backdrop, Western Australia’s economic fundamentals remain as solid as ever. Our domestic economy is now 12 per cent bigger than what it was pre-COVID and the number of Western Australians in full-time work continues to grow.

In this edition of Outlook, we unpack the key forces underpinning WA’s recent economic performance and outline how the economy could eveolve in the months and years ahead.

Previous Economic Outlook Reports

Western Australia’s regions are the engine room of the WA economy, supporting a range of key export industries, including resources, agriculture and tourism.

Regional Pulse breaks down key results from the CCIWA Business Confidence Survey, providing insights into the conditions facing businesses in WA’s regional centres. The report contains:

• Comprehensive data on key economic indicators across the regions, including profitability, capital expenditure, production, labour costs and employment.
• The major barriers facing regional businesses over the next 12 months.

March 2023

On average, regional businesses are slightly more optimistic than metro businesses in the short term but less so over the longer term.

Just over one third (35%) of regional businesses expect stronger conditions over the next three months – three percentage points higher than for metro businesses (32%).

Looking to the next twelve months, around one quarter (27%) regional businesses expect stronger conditions, nine percentage points less than metro businesses (36%).

Produced quarterly, our inflation update provides charts and tables on consumer price trends in Perth and all the capital cities.

September 2022

• Nationally, CPI rose 1.8% in the September quarter, with inflation now 7.3% over the 12 months.
• Perth was the only capital city to record a fall in inflation this quarter of -0.5% (compared with 1.7% in the June quarter).
• What influenced CPI this quarter?
  • The electricity subsidy in WA saw electricity fall 84.3% over the quarter, while utilities fell 41.6%.
  • Automotive fuel also fell over the quarter (-5.8%) due to the reductions in crude oil prices globally.
  • International holidays & accommodation (+14.9%), Fruit and vegetables (+5.4%) and Childcare (+4.9%) saw the largest rises over the quarter.

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