After an upward trend in December, the state-run statistics agency said its Current Consumer Confidence Index, which describes current trends in personal consumption, dropped by 0.2 points in January and slid further into negative territory of “minus 25.1” points.
Polish consumers surveyed this month were less positive about the prospects of the economy than a month earlier, but their evaluation of their own financial prospects improved slightly from December, according to the Central Statistical Office.
Compared with January last year, the Current Consumer Confidence Index was 28.8 points lower, the statistical office said.
Meanwhile, the so-called Leading Consumer Confidence Index, which provides an insight into expected trends in personal consumption in the coming months, rose by 1.5 points in January from December, to “minus 22.7” points, the Central Statistical Office reported.
It added that several components of that indicator improved, including how consumers evaluate the future level of unemployment, but respondents were less positive than a month earlier about the future financial situation of their households.
The Leading Consumer Confidence Index was 22.1 points lower in January than in the same month of 2020, the office reported.
Both consumer confidence indicators take values from -100 to +100. A positive value means that optimistic attitudes prevail among consumers, while a negative value indicates a prevalence of pessimistic views.
The latest consumer sentiment study was conducted between January 4 and 14, the Central Statistical Office reported.
More than 88 percent of those surveyed said their responses were impacted by "the current epidemiological situation" in the country, the Central Statistical Office reported.
In April last year, consumer sentiment in Poland had plunged to its lowest level since 2004 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, stat.gov.pl