Finland’s consumer confidence worsened for the second straight month in October to the lowest level in one year, survey figures from Statistics Finland showed Tuesday.
The consumer confidence index fell to 1.3 in October from 4.2 in the previous month. In August, the score was 8.3.
The latest reading marked the weakest since October 2014, when it was at 0.4.
The recent survey was conducted among 1,299 residents in Finland, between October 1 and 19.
Households’ expectations regarding their own financial situation for the next twelve months weakened in October. The corresponding index dropped for the second successive month to 2.5 from 4.8 in September.
At the same time, the index measuring the general economic situation of the country for the next year improved slightly to -8.7 in October from -9.5 a month earlier.
The survey showed that only 12 percent of consumers thought in October that unemployment would decrease over the year, while 60 percent of them believed it would increase.
Consumers predicted in October that consumer prices would go up 1.2 percent over the next twelve months. In September, the expected rate of inflation was 1.5 percent.
In October, 44 percent of consumer thought the time was favorable for buying durable goods, while 50 percent of consumers considered saving worthwhile.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com