Happy consumer with paperbags in hands walking down mall

Consumer Confidence Has Fallen Sharply, While Business Is Slightly More Optimistic

According to monthly data from the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) on confidence indicators in the economic cycle, consumers are very skeptical about the improvement in the economic situation, while business owners are slightly more optimistic. Credit: Freepik.

Czech Rep, Nov 24 (BD) – The composite confidence indicator (or economic sentiment indicator) dropped slightly month-on-month, according to a cyclical report from the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).

The latest data show that the business confidence indicator increased by 1.5 percentage points, while the consumer confidence indicator fell by 8.1 pp compared to last month. Despite this, the composite indicator of the business indicator and the consumer confidence indicator is at a higher level than last year.

In other words, consumer and business confidence, although down compared to last month, is still very high, both compared to the same period of 2020 and on an annual basis. Furthermore, considering the data of the last few months, the business confidence index is increasing for the first time in four months. The share of business owners expecting their business to grow in the next three months has increased compared to October.

However, they are also predicting an increase in the selling price of products, as consumer confidence is falling from month to month, dropping by 8.1 points in November.

An increasing share of respondents believe that there will be a worsening of the overall economic situation over the next year, and the percentage of those who believe that there will be an improvement in their own financial situation is also decreasing.

In November, the number of consumers who are worried about the increase in selling prices increased, reaching the highest level in the history of the survey.

* The data shown refer to the period from November 1st to 18th, 2021.

Brno Daily Subscribe
Sign up for morning news in your mail