German GfK Consumer Sentiment To Improve

(RTTNews) - German consumer confidence is set to improve in December as households showed willingness to buy and save but their economic and income expectations deteriorated, monthly survey data published jointly by NIQ/GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed Thursday.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index improved to -23.2 from -24.1 in the previous month. The indicator was forecast to rise moderately to -23.6.

"With the stabilization, the Consumer Climate is currently almost exactly at the previous year's level," NIM Head of Consumer Climate Rolf Burkl said. "This is also good news for the retail sector with regard to Christmas spending: the data indicate a stable business," Burkl added.

"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," said Burkl.

The willingness to buy increased for the second straight month and the willingness to save declined in November. However, the fall in income expectations prevented a stronger recovery. The indicator for income expectations dropped to an eight-month low of -0.1 in November from +2.3 a month ago.

In contrast to income expectations, the willingness to buy rose for the second straight month in November. The index climbed to -6.0 from -9.3 in the previous month. The score was the second highest this year.

Meanwhile, consumers remained cautious in their assessment of the economic expectations for the coming twelve months. The index dropped to -1.1 from +0.8 in October. Consumers continue to expect no significant recovery in the near-term.