Gfk: consumer climate in Germany was unchanged heading into March

According to the report from Gfk (Germany's largest market research institute), the mood of consumers paints a mixed picture in February 2019. While income expectations remain stable, the propensity to buy has lost ground again following the gains made last month. Economic expectations, in contrast, continue their steep downward spiral. The indicator lost a further 6.5 points in February, dropping to 4.2 points as a result. This is the fifth decline in succession and the lowest value since March 2016, when it measured 0.5 points. This means that it is currently more than 41 points lower than the corresponding value recorded for the previous year.

Since the propensity to save has also dropped further, GfK predicts that the consumer climate in March will remain unchanged compared to the previous month at 10.8 points.

The gap between economic and income expectations widened again in February. While income expectations have retained their extremely good level, the economic indicator has continued its steep downward spiral unabated. The propensity to buy lost virtually all the gains it had made in the previous month. Since the decline in the propensity to save acts as a support, the overall consumer climate remains unchanged.