2 February, 1999
Inquiries: Mr Pertti Kangassalo +358 9 1734 3598,
e-mail: pertti.kangassalo@stat.fi
Director in charge: Mr Markku Suur-Kujala
Strong consumer confidence in economy continues
Finnish consumers' confidence in the continuation of fast economic growth strengthened slightly in January. Forty-nine per cent of consumers expected that the country's economic situation would remain unchanged, while 32 per cent believed that it would improve further this year. Only 15 per cent of consumers expected the country's economy to deteriorate. The data are based on Statistics Finland's Consumer Survey, for which 1,610 persons resident in Finland were interviewed between 18 and 25 January.
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| Consumer views on economic and financial conditions in Finland | |||
| January 1998
balance |
December 1998
balance |
January 1999
balance |
|
| Consumer confidence indicator | 15.3 | 13.1 | 13.4 |
| Economic situation of households in 12 months' time | 7.7 | 10.8 | 9.6 |
| General economic situation in 12 months' time | 16.5 | 6.6 | 8.3 |
| Unemployment in 12 months' time | -23.1 | -14.9 | -15.3 |
| Price trend over the next 12 months, % | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| Financial situation of households at present | 24.0 | 25.9 | 25.0 |
| Favourable time to make major purchases at present | 25.0 | 23.4 | 25.5 |
| Favourable time to save at present | -1.6 | 5.1 | 7.2 |
| Favourable time to raise a loan at present | 21.7 | 35.5 | 32.4 |
The balance figures are obtained by deducting the proportion of negative answers from the proportion of positive ones. The negative balance figure for unemployment means that unemployment is estimated to go down. The consumer confidence indicator is the average of the balance figures for the following questions: Finland's past and future 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 balance figures and the confidence indicator can range between -100 and 100.
Twenty-five per cent of consumers believed that their own economy would improve this year, while only 8 per cent estimated that it would worsen. Fifty-three per cent of households were able to lay aside some money and 68 per cent believed they would be able to save money this year. Seventy-one per cent of consumers considered the time favourable for raising a loan and 14 per cent of households intended to do so.
Consumers' intentions to make purchases continued strong in January and 46 per cent of them viewed buying consumer durables favourably. Five per cent of households considered buying a dwelling this year and 9 per cent were thinking of purchasing a car in the early part of the year. Thirty-seven per cent of households were planning to take a holiday abroad in the next six months. Consumers predicted that the rate of inflation in January 2000 would be 1.3 per cent.
In January, 74 per cent of households had a mobile phone, 41 per cent owned a PC and 21 per cent had their home PCs connected to the Internet.
In January, the confidence indicator expressing consumers' views on the economy stood at 13.4, which is roughly the same as in December 1998. By international comparison, Finnish consumers' views on the economy are optimistic. In December, the only 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 remained negative in December, at -2.
Source: Consumer Survey 1999, January. Statistics Finland