Refugee crisis dampens European consumer mood

The Consumer Climate EU28 for Q3 has fallen by a half point since June to reach 10.3 points.

According to GfK, this drop can be attributed to media coverage of the new aid package and elections in Greece, the influx of refugees — mostly from Syria — and crises and wars in the Near and Middle East playing on the minds of consumers.

The figure is calculated using five indicators: economic, price and income expectations; and propensity to buy and to save. In the UK, the indicator of consumers’ economic expectations dropped by 8.5 points to 11.2, its lowest value since July 2013. This time last year the indicator was at 24.6 points. In Germany, the indicator has lost a total of 18.5 points since June to reach 6.4 points; in France it has grown by 0.6 points to 6.1; in Italy it has recovered to -15.4 points having ‘bottomed out’ at -31.9 points in July.

The GfK Consumer Climate Europe study findings come from a consumer survey conducted on behalf of the EU commission in all countries of the European Union. Around 40,000 people per month are interviewed across the 28 countries.