Frankfurt am Main
German consumer confidence recovered some of the ground lost due the coronavirus shock but it remains deep in negative territory as Europe’s top economy faces a slow recovery, a survey showed Tuesday.
Pollsters GfK said their forward-looking monthly barometer for June showed a reading of minus 18.9 points, up from the May reading of minus 23.1 when the indicator plunged 25 points overall.
Despite the improvement, the June level is the second-lowest ever measured by the survey since its creation in 1980, GfK said.
“Step-by-step reopening of many businesses has definitely helped prevent any further erosion,” GfK expert Rolf Buerkl said.
“But uncertainty remains high among consumers. They believe the German economy is far from out of the woods and expect to be hit by a serious recession.”
Looking to the sub-indexes that make up the consumer confidence measure, people’s expectations for the economic outlook and for their own income both improved — but also remained in negative territory.
Meanwhile respondents’ openness to making purchases clambered back into low positive figures.
“People’s fear of losing their job remains high, and alongside slashed incomes, that’s turning out to be a significant brake on consumption,” Buerkl said.
GfK polled around 2,000 people between May 6 and 18 to compile this month’s survey.—AFP
