Household economic confidence is picking up across the country, but Otago's rating is the lowest in the country.
Confidence in their respective regional economies has continued to improve in most parts of New Zealand, especially in Canterbury and the key dairy exporting regions, according to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller regional economic confidence survey comparing June with September.
Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said South Island confidence generally increased, while in the North Island it mostly declined, with sharp falls in Auckland and Wellington.
In Otago, 16% of respondents expected better times ahead for regional economic confidence in June, which had since risen to 25% for September, while overall consumer confidence increased from 103.4 to just 104.3; the lowest in the country with the national average at 112.
Mr Stephens said overall consumer confidence "remains very low" in Otago.
By contrast, Southland consumers are the most confident, underpinned by a strong local economy and the lowest unemployment rate in the country; with overall regional confidence boosted 5% to 57%, and consumer confidence leaping from 111 to 124.
