Consumers’ confidence goes down

The consumer confidence indicator (CCI) stood at minus 4.5 in August, which was minus 3.9 in July and minus 4.6 in June, according to the Statistics Finland.

Last year in August, the CCI received the value of 2.3. The average for the CCI since January 2018 is 0.0.

The data are based on the Statistics Finland’s Consumer Confidence Survey, to which 1,081 residents of Finland responded between 1 and 19 August.

Of the four components of the CCI, only the assessment concerning consumers’ own current economic situation improved somewhat in August compared to July.

The other components deteriorated slightly. The expectations on Finland’s economy were very pessimistic.

At the same time, the views on consumers’ own economy, both now and in the future, were subdued. Intentions to spend money on durable goods were slightly higher than average in August.

Compared with the corresponding period last year, all the components of the CCI, apart from spending, weakened in August. Especially the expectations on Finland’s economy plummeted over the year.

In August, consumers expected the general employment situation to darken in the near future. Employed consumers also felt that their personal threat of unemployment has increased in recent times. On the other hand, nearly every second employed person did not experience any threat.

In August, consumers considered their own financial situation to be average. The time was, in general, regarded favourable for raising a loan but not for buying durable goods and especially not for saving.