Lisbon, Sept. 27, 2024 (Lusa) - Statistics Portugal (INE) announced on Friday that the consumer confidence indicator in Portugal rose in September after falling in August, and the economic climate indicator rose to its highest level since April 2023.
According to the "Business and Consumer Confidence Surveys" results, the consumer confidence indicator "increased in September, after decreasing in the previous month, registering values higher than those seen in February 2022 since July, before the sharp drop seen in March 2022".
Based on business inquiries, the economic climate indicator "increased in September, reaching its highest level since April 2023".
In the month under review, confidence indicators increased in manufacturing and trade and "more significantly in services, having fallen in construction and public works".
According to INE, the evolution of the consumer confidence indicator in September was the result of the positive contribution of all the components: prospects for future developments in the making of major purchases by households, the country's economic situation and the household's financial situation, as well as opinions on past developments in the household's financial situation.
The balance of expectations regarding the future evolution of the country's economic situation increased, after decreasing in August, "registering lower values in the last two months than in July, when it exceeded the value observed in February 2022 for the first time".
The balance of perspectives on the future evolution of the household's financial situation also "increased in September, after the slight decrease recorded in the previous month, resuming the upward profile that began in December 2023".
In turn, the balance of opinions on past price developments "decreased in the last two months, following the slight increase in July", while the balance of perspectives on future price developments decreased "significantly in September, following the increase in the previous month".
In the manufacturing industry, confidence rose in August and September after falling in July, reflecting the positive contribution of assessments of stocks of finished products and production prospects, with opinions on the evolution of global demand making a negative contribution.
The construction and public works confidence indicator fell in September after having risen in August, with last month's evolution reflecting the negative contribution of the two components, opinions on the order book and employment prospects.
"The main factor limiting activity indicated by companies continued to be the difficulty in recruiting qualified staff, although last month there was a decrease in the percentage of companies that mentioned this obstacle, which had reached a new series high in August," he notes.
In the retail sector, the confidence indicator rose between July and September after falling in the previous month, reflecting the positive contribution of opinions on the volume of sales, while the outlook for company activity and opinions on the volume of stocks made a negative contribution.
In September, the confidence indicator rose in retail trade and fell in wholesale trade.
As for services, the confidence indicator rose in September after falling in the previous month.
INE's data collection periods ran from 2nd to 18th September in the case of the consumer survey, with 1,258 responses obtained by telephone interview, and from 1st to 23rd September in the case of the business surveys.
PD/ADB // ADB.
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