Nearly half of all Australians are not hopeful about the future of the economy a new report reveals. The Allianz Future Optimism Index has found only 51 per cent of Australians can be regarded as being optimistic, and nearly one in ten (9 per cent) are decidedly pessimistic.

Allianz Managing Director Terry Towell said the results show nearly one in every two Australians are not optimistic despite a positive outlook for Australia's economic growth and low levels of unemployment.

"The Allianz Future Optimism Index also reveals that the overall lack of optimism about the future of the economy is more significant among Australian women, with the survey suggesting that 55 per cent of women are not optimistic about the future of the economy compared to only 43 per cent of men," he said.

This difference between the sexes is apparent across a range of demographic groupings. For example, men aged between 18 and 49 and over 65 are more optimistic than women, and unmarried men (including widowers and divorcees) are more optimistic than single women. This difference in optimism between the sexes did not exist in the case of married Australians.

There are also significant differences in how optimistic Australians are about the future of the economy depending on where they live. The survey found that 59 per cent of West Australians are optimistic compared to only 47 per cent of Queenslanders. The other mainland State results were South Australia (53 per cent), Victoria (51 per cent) and New South Wales (51 per cent).

Mr Towell said, "interestingly, despite the fact that both Western Australia and Queensland are experiencing strong growth as a result of the mining boom, Queenslanders are significantly less optimistic about the future of the economy than Western Australians."

The Newspoll survey on which the Allianz Future Optimism Indexes are based asked Australians to rank how optimistic they were about the future on a scale of zero to 10. Those that gave a score of 7 or more out of 10 are regarded as being optimistic and those with a score of 3 or less out of 10 are regarded as being pessimistic.