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Volume of consumption remaining constant in Finland
10/10/2008
Consumer spending in Finland is showing only a little sign of the international financial crisis. The retail sector even believes that it will benefit from consumers delaying the purchase of major items.
“We are expecting that people’s desire to buy things will increase because in a situation like this they may actually increase consumption,” says Osmo Laine, managing director of the Finnish Grocery Trade Association (FGTA).
YLE’s statistics show that Finnish supermarkets, small stores and department stores have all enjoyed an increase in sales ranging from 9.4% to 11.6% during period January-August 2008, compared to the same period during the previous year.
Now it seems that the volume of consumption is remaining constant and only the target of consumer spending is changing. When property and car sales slow down, consumer spending flows to the tills of the department stores. The sale of daily consumer goods is going strong in Finland.
“There will probably be a drop in the sales of consumer durables but this is unlikely to be the case with daily consumer goods,” says SOK Chief Executive Arto Hiltunen.
According to Stockmann’s managing director Hannu Penttilä, sales of fashion goods are going well, while the slowdown in the property market is reflected in the sales of household goods.
“Things are still looking good. So far it is very difficult to analyse the direction. Finland’s economic indicators are in fairly good shape. It’s a question of how people experience things,” says Arja Talma, CFO of the Kesko Group.
Source: YLE News
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