October 10, 2014

Consumer sentiment fell from the 41.2 points recorded in August to 39.9 points in September, which contrasted market expectations of an increase to 41.8 points. September’s print represented the lowest reading in four months. The consumer confidence index measures consumers’ expectations for the next six months on a scale of 0–100, where 100 points indicates that all respondents see their living standards improving.



September’s result mostly reflected a steep deterioration in the overall livelihood category and consumers’ willingness to buy durable goods. Job conditions also recorded a sizeable drop in September, while income growth was just below the previous month’s reading.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect private consumption to increase 0.6% in 2014, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. In 2015, the panel sees private consumption growing 0.4%.