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Consumers' confidence in economy recovered slightly

27/03/2009

Finnish consumers' confidence in the economy has recovered slightly. The consumer confidence indicator stood at -1.5 in March having been -3.9 in February and January. At its lowest in December 2008 the confidence indicator was -6.5. Confidence in the economy has been negative since October 2008 and before that during the recession years of the early 1990s. The data are based on Statistics Finland's Consumer Survey, for which 1,494 people resident in Finland were interviewed between 2 and 19 March.

Consumers' confidence in all four components of the consumer confidence indicator improved slightly in March when compared to the previous month. However, views about Finland's economy and unemployment continued to be bleak. In addition, fear of personal unemployment continued to increase in March. On the other hand, consumers continued to assess their saving possibilities as excellent, and some optimism was expressed in respect of consumers' own economic situation. In March the time was considered more favourable than before for raising a loan.

Source: Statistics Finland