The mood of German consumers is deteriorating due to accelerating inflation and the growing number of new cases of coronavirus infection. This emerges from a survey of around 2,000 German consumers, the results of which were published today by the Nuremberg research institute GfK.
The consumer sentiment index for September fell to minus 1.2 points from the revised minus 0.4 points in the previous month. The decline in the index was more pronounced than analysts had expected. They estimated his September value in a Reuters poll at minus 0.7 points.
“Prices have been rising rapidly since the middle of this year. This has a negative impact on consumer sentiment,” said GfK analyst Rolf Bürkl. In July, year-on-year consumer price inflation in Germany accelerated to 3.1 percent from 2.1 percent in June, according to data harmonized with the European Union’s calculation methodology. Inflation thus climbed to a thirteen-year high.
According to Bürkel, the attitude of consumers to the economic outlook and their willingness to buy is also negatively affected by the accelerating spread of coronavirus and the slowing pace of vaccination against covid-19, Reuters reported.
Germany is the largest economy in Europe and the largest trading partner of the Czech Republic. The German statistical office announced this week that gross domestic product (GDP) Germany grew by 1.6 percent in the second quarter after a two percent decline in the first quarter.
Source: GfK and CTK
