Ljubljana, 23 January (STA) - After experiencing a slump in mid-2018, consumer confidence in Slovenia has improved for the fourth month running in January. While it was up one percentage point over December, it is still five percentage points under the level recorded a year ago, the Statistics Office (SURS) reported on Wednesday.
The monthly improvement was primarily a result of more optimism concerning the economic situation in the country (+4pp), employment (+3pp) and the financial situation of households (+2pp).
Standing out negatively are expectations regarding savings, which dipped by 3 percentage points.
Compared to a year ago, consumers were more pessimistic about the economic situation in the country (-13pp) and employment (-9pp).
Standing out among the indicators being measured quarterly are the prospects for a car purchase, which increased by 4 percentage points in January from last October, reaching the highest level in the last 15 years.
As regards the comparison with January 2018, the SURS stressed that consumer confidence had been at the highest level then since the office started monitoring it in 1996. The index fell substantially between July and September but has been picking up since October.
The index also remains 16 percentage points above the long-term average.