3 September, 1998
Inquiries: Mr Pertti Kangassalo + 358 9 1734 3598,
e-mail: pertti.kangassalo@stat.fi
Statistical Director in charge: Mr Markku
Suur-Kujala
Consumer Survey: Consumer confidence remains strong in Finland
Consumer confidence in favourable economic development continued strong in August. The confidence indicator measuring consumer satisfaction stood at 16.9, that is, the same as in July. This decade, confidence in the economy has only been slightly stronger in April 1997. The data are based on Statistics Finland's Consumer Survey, for which 1,680 people resident in Finland were interviewed between 17 and 24 August.
Consumer views on economic and financial conditions in Finland
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| August 1997
balance |
July 1998
balance |
August 1998
balance |
|
| Consumer confidence indicator | 12.7 | 16.9 | 16.9 |
| Financial situation of households at present | 20.7 | 24.5 | 24.6 |
| Economic situation of households in 12 months' time | 6.0 | 8.5 | 7.9 |
| General economic situation in 12 months' time | 16.4 | 18.1 | 15.0 |
| Unemployment in 12 months' time | -18.6 | -25.4 | -25.9 |
| Price trend over the next 12 months, % | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| Favourable time to make major purchases at present | 17.5 | 24.1 | 23.8 |
| Favourable time to save at present | -7.0 | 6.4 | 8.3 |
| Favourable time to raise a loan at present | 20.9 | 29.7 | 33.6 |
Consumer confidence indicator is calculated from the respondents' answers to these five questions: past and future general economic development, past and future economic development of the respondent's own household, and whether it was a favourable time to make major purchases at present. The indicator is the average of balances obtained by deducting the proportion of negative answers from the proportion of positive ones.
Consumers' estimates of future general economic development declined in August, but their estimates of the future economic development of their own households were somewhat more positive than in August 1997.
The financial situation of households was slightly better in August than a year earlier. A total of 68 per cent of the respondents were planning to save money in the next 12 months and 15 per cent intended to raise a loan. Consumers' intentions to buy consumer durables were still strong. Consumers predicted that the rate of inflation in August 1999 would be 1.8 per cent.
Finnish consumers' views on the economy were very optimistic by international comparison. In June, theonly EU Member States where consumers were more confident about economic development than in Finland were Ireland and the Netherlands. The average confidence indicator of the EU Member States has been going up gradually, but still remained negative in June, at -4.
Source: Consumer Survey, August 1998. Statistics Finland