Consumer confidence plunges to worst level since 1990s

Australian households are in the doldrums as confidence sinks to a level not seen since the 1990s. (Joanna Kordina/AAP PHOTOS)

Australian households are the most persistently pessimistic they have been since the early-1990s recession, after a fourth Reserve Bank rate rise.

Following the RBA's decision to lift interest rates to the highest level since 2011, confidence among Australian consumers plunged about 20 per cent, according to the Westpac–Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index on Tuesday.