Ireland: Consumer confidence improves but remains pessimistic in June
Consumer confidence rose to 57.7 in June from May’s 55.5. This marked the first improvement in consumer sentiment since January 2022. That said, sentiment remained pessimistic, remaining at levels not seen since the country’s first wave of Covid-19 in Q2 2020.
The stronger reading was due to a broad-based improvement in the index’s subcomponents. Consumers were more optimistic about their recent and future personal finances, the outlook for unemployment and current economic conditions. The only subcomponent that decreased was the general economic outlook. The overall improvement may be rooted in the possibility that consumers have already priced in the impact of the rising cost of living on their finances, with sentiment finally stabilizing after falling sharply in recent months.