Consumer confidence down in June
According to the INE, the consumer confidence indicator in Portugal decreased in June, after having increased in the previous two months.
The consumer confidence indicator in Portugal decreased in June, after having increased in the previous two months, and the economic climate indicator retreated in May and June, after stabilising in April, Statistics Portugal said on Wednesday.
“The consumer confidence indicator fell in June, after having increased in the two previous months and having registered an abrupt decrease in March,” Statistics Portugal (INE) said, adding that “the economic climate indicator decreased in May and June, after having stabilised in April.
Meanwhile, the consumer outlook for future price trends “increased in June, after having decreased in the two previous months and registered the highest increase of the series in March, which largely surpassed the previous peak”.
According to the INE, “confidence indicators increased in June in manufacturing, trade and, slightly, in services, having decreased significantly in construction and public works”.
The balance of businessmen’s expectations regarding the future evolution of sale prices increased in construction and public works, in trade and services, having reached in the first case the maximum of the respective series, while in the manufacturing industry there has been a decrease in the last two months, after having reached the maximum of the series in April.
According to the statistical institute, the decrease in the consumer confidence indicator “resulted from the negative contribution of all components: expectations regarding the future evolution of the economic situation of the country, the financial situation of the household and important purchases by households and opinions on the past evolution of the financial situation of the household”.
The balance of expectations regarding future developments in the country’s economic situation decreased in June, after having increased in the two preceding months and having recorded the second-highest decrease of the series in March.
In the same vein, the balance of prospects regarding future developments in the household financial situation also declined in June, after increases in the two previous months and the second-largest fall of the series recorded in March.
The balance of opinions on past price developments increased over the last nine months, extending the sharply upward trend that started in March 2021 and equalling the series’ peak in May 2008.
The balance of prospects regarding future price developments increased in June, after having decreased in the two preceding months and after having recorded in March the highest increase and the highest value of the series that began in September 1997.
As for the evolution of the confidence indicator in the manufacturing industry, “it was due to the positive contribution of production prospects, with assessments concerning stocks of finished products having made a negative contribution and opinions on the evolution of overall demand having made a null contribution”.
The confidence indicator increased in the ‘investment goods’ grouping, decreasing in the ‘consumer goods’ and ‘intermediate goods’ groupings.
In turn, the construction and public works confidence indicator decreased “significantly” in June, contrary to the increase recorded in May, with the evolution reflecting “the negative contribution of the two components, assessments of the order book and employment prospects, more intense in the latter case”.
In the trade sector, the confidence indicator increased in June after having decreased in the previous month, reflecting the positive contribution of opinions on the volume of sales and company activity prospects, with opinions on the volume of stocks contributing negatively.
In June, the confidence indicator increased in ‘wholesale trade’ and decreased in ‘retail trade’.
The services confidence indicator increased “slightly” in June, countering the decrease observed in the previous month and returning to its maximum value since June 2006.
“The behaviour of the indicator resulted from the positive contribution of assessments regarding company activity, with opinions on the evolution of the order book and the outlook for the evolution of demand contributing negatively,” explains INE.
