Consumer Survey: Finland’s economy better than for many years

Consumers confident about their own economy and the national outlook

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According to Statistics Finland’s Consumer Survey, consumer views on the general economic situation in Finland in April 2004 are more optimistic than they have been for years.
      Moreover, 33 per cent of consumers believed that Finland's economic situation would even improve in the next 12 months.
     
For many years consumers’ expectations concerning Finland’s economy have been pessimistic, while they doggedly believed that their own fortunes would remain good..
      However, the consumer confidence indicator turned optimistic at the beginning of this year. When asked about their view on the economic conditions in Finland compared with the previous year, the consumers were unexpectedly positive.
     
In January the balance figure of the consumer barometer was only slightly positive, whereas the recent balance figure for April came up to +5.2. Compared with -11.7 in April last year, the change was significant.
      The consumer survey is based on the balance figures that are obtained by deducting the weighted proportion of negative answers from that of positive answers. The consumer confidence indicator is the average of the balance figures for four questions concerning the next 12 months: personal and national economy, unemployment, and household's saving possibilities.
     
Consumers’ faith in their own economic prospects remains strong, too. The balance figure reached a record of 13.1 in March - a figure that was last seen in February 2000.
      According to Senior Statistician Pertti Kangassalo of Statistics Finland, consumers follow world news, which currently predict an improvement in economic fortunes.
      ”The world situation is reflected in consumers’ own economy. Even statistics confirm the facts that consumers have savings, unemployment has not increased, interest rates are low, and inflation is moderate.”
      ”Consequently, a majority of consumers think that the time is favourable for raising a loan. Furthermore, many households have intentions to buy a new home, a car, and are considering spending money on entertainment electronics and the spring favourite, home decoration.”
     
Regarding unemployment respondents were surprisingly positive: 17 per cent of consumers thought that they were less threatened by unemployment. On the other hand, because of recent layoffs, 15 per cent of the employed persons reckoned they were personally more threatened by unemployment.
      The data are based on Statistics Finland's Consumer Survey, for which 1,579 persons resident in Finland were interviewed between 1 and 19 April.


Links:
  Statistics Finland: Consumers' views on development of unemployment less pessimistic

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