Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Subscribe to The Informer for monthly expert analysis, and to Events for advance notice of visiting world leaders and distinguished guests.
You may unsubscribe from Lowy Institute newsletters at any time. For information on our privacy practices and how to unsubscribe, see our Privacy Policy.
Optimism about Australia’s economic performanceOptimism about Australia’s economic performance
About the author
Natasha Kassam
Natasha Kassam was Director of the Lowy Institute's Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program from 2019 to 2022, directing the annual Lowy Institute Poll and researching China’s politics, Taiwan, and Australia-China relations.
Australians appear to have largely recovered from their concerns in 2020 about the global economic downturn. In the largest rebound in economic optimism in the 17 years of the Lowy Institute Poll, 79% of Australians say they are ‘optimistic’ or ‘very optimistic’ about Australia’s economic performance in the world. This represents a 27-point lift since 2020, and optimism about the economy is now higher than before the pandemic, although slightly lower than the levels after the global financial crisis, when 86% of the population expressed similar levels of optimism. This positive response to the pandemic-induced economic crisis is similar to that following the 2008–9 financial crisis, and is accompanied by a sharp drop in concern about a severe downturn in the global economy.
