Russia: Consumer confidence improves but remains firmly entrenched in negative territory in Q3
The consumer confidence index published by the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) on 4 October edged up to minus 13 points in the third quarter, from minus 15 points in the second quarter. Q3’s result marked the third consecutive quarterly improvement and the highest reading since Q2 2018. That said, the index remains firmly entrenched below the 0-point threshold, where it has been for nearly 11 years, indicating that pessimists continue to firmly outnumber optimists in the Russian economy.
The improvement in sentiment was once again broad-based. Consumers’ views of both the current and the future economic situation in the country improved mildly in the third quarter, as did their willingness to make big-ticket purchases. In a similar manner, households’ assessment of both the current and future economic situation improved slightly in the quarter. Lastly, households assessed their ability to save somewhat higher in the third quarter.