Consumer confidence in Finland recovered in February after dipping in the December-January period due to the pandemic and associated restrictions, according to Kaupan Liitto (the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions).
Economist Bate Ismail noted that Russia's attack on Ukraine could weigh on consumer confidence again.
”The weak interest rate situation and tightening restrictions clearly lowered consumer expectations in December-January, but confidence recovered in February," he explained. "A recovering society should boost confidence to a good level during the spring, but on the other hand, Russia's invasion of Ukraine may push the indicator down.”
In February, the consumer confidence indicator was 0.5, compared with -1.7 in January and -3.5 in December.
The data is based on Statistics Finland's consumer confidence survey, which included approximately 1,000 respondents living in Finland between 1 and 16 February.
Highlights Of The Survey
The survey showed that consumers' expectations for their own economy in a year's time have improved.
Consumers also indicated a positive perception of the current state of their personal finances and expressed the intention to spend on consumer durables.
In February, expectations for the Finnish economy were at an average level, remaining more or less unchanged compared with January.
Compared to February of last year, respondents’ assessment of the current state of their own economy improved markedly, while the other components remained unchanged or deteriorated slightly.
Read More: Rising Prices To Drive Finnish Retail Sales Growth: Kaupan Liitto
Data also showed significant improvement in consumers' expectations about the general unemployment situation in Finland in February.
However, at the same time, the threat of unemployment or lay-offs as perceived by employed persons, including wage earners and entrepreneurs, increased slightly, data showed.
In February, consumers' estimates and expectations of inflation rose increasingly above their long-term averages.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
