Source: Sharecast
GfK’s latest consumer sentiment index for December came in at -23.2, a modest uplift on the previous month’s -24.1 and in line with expectations.
Among individual sub-measures, the willingness to buy index jumped 3.3 points to -6, while the willingness to save index eased 2.1 points to 13.7.
However, a decrease in income expectations prevented a stronger overall recovery. The measure fell 2.4 points at -0.1, although the decline was an improvement on October’s 13-point slide.
Rolf Burkl, head of consumer climate at the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), which founded GfK, said: "With the stabilisation, the consumer climate is currently almost exactly at the previous year’s level.
"This is good news for the retail sector with regard to Christmas spending: the data indicates a stable business.
"On the one hand, this shows a certain stability in consumer sentiment, but on the other hand it also reveals that consumers do not expect a significant recovery in the short term."
The survey of around 2,000 German consumers was carried out between 30 October and 10 November.
The index has been jointly published by GfK, which is part of global market research firm NIQ, and NIM since October 2023.