Essential Report
State of the economy
Q. Overall, how would you describe the current state of the Australian economy?
Sep’20 | Sep’19 | May’18 | Nov’17 | May’17 | Dec’16 | |
Very good | 8% | 5% | 8% | 3% | 3% | 2% |
Quite good | 16% | 27% | 31% | 30% | 27% | 21% |
Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 32% | 32% | 38% | 36% | 37% |
Quite poor | 32% | 25% | 18% | 17% | 23% | 28% |
Very poor | 14% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 6% | 8% |
Unsure | 2% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
NET: Good | 23% | 32% | 39% | 33% | 30% | 23% |
NET: Poor | 46% | 33% | 24% | 24% | 29% | 36% |
Base (n) | 1,081 | 1,097 | 1,033 | 1,021 | 1,007 | 1,001 |
Total | Gender | Age | ||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | ||
Very good | 8% | 11% | 4% | 9% | 12% | 1% |
Quite good | 16% | 18% | 13% | 21% | 16% | 11% |
Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 28% | 31% | 34% | 30% | 26% |
Quite poor | 32% | 30% | 33% | 23% | 29% | 41% |
Very poor | 14% | 12% | 16% | 9% | 12% | 20% |
Unsure | 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 1% |
NET: Good | 23% | 29% | 17% | 30% | 28% | 12% |
NET: Poor | 46% | 42% | 49% | 33% | 41% | 61% |
Base (n) | 1,081 | 539 | 542 | 338 | 374 | 369 |
Total | Federal Voting Intention | ||||
Labor | Coalition | Greens | Independent / Other | ||
Very good | 8% | 4% | 10% | 7% | 9% |
Quite good | 16% | 13% | 20% | 13% | 13% |
Neither good, nor poor | 30% | 26% | 29% | 33% | 29% |
Quite poor | 32% | 38% | 28% | 34% | 33% |
Very poor | 14% | 18% | 12% | 12% | 16% |
Unsure | 2% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 0% |
NET: Good | 23% | 17% | 30% | 19% | 22% |
NET: Poor | 46% | 56% | 39% | 46% | 49% |
Base (n) | 1,081 | 298 | 460 | 115 | 104 |
- Rating of the state of the economy has fallen in the last year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now 23% of people the state of the economy as very or quite good, down 9%pts from 32% last year. Over the same time those rating the economy as poor (very/quite) has increased from 33% to 46%.
- Those most pessimistic about the state of the economy include women (17% rating very/quite good, down from 30% last year), people aged over 55 (12%, down from 31% last year) Labor voters (17%) and Greens voters (19%).
- Rating of the economy among Coalition voters has dropped from 45% very/quite good in Sep’19 to 30% this year.

COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
Essential Report
In this week's report:
- Performance of Scott Morrison
- Performance of Anthony Albanese
- Preferred Prime Minister
- Views towards re-electing the federal Coalition government
- Party trust to handle issues
- Importance of Australia’s international reputation
- Scott Morrison’s impact on Australia’s international reputation
- Views towards Australia’s international reputation
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