Russia: Consumer confidence ticks down in Q3
The consumer confidence index, published by the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat) on 22 September, fell to minus 19 points in the third quarter, from minus 18 points in Q2, marking the first deterioration since Q4 2020. As a result, the index fell further below the 0-point threshold, where it has been since Q3 2008, signaling that pessimists continued to firmly outnumber optimists in the Russian economy.
Looking at the details of the release, the deterioration was mostly driven by a deterioration in consumers’ sentiment towards the expected changes in the economic situation in Russia. Moreover, propensity to make large purchases declined, while propensity to save rose. Meanwhile, consumers’ expectations of personal financial situation and their assessment of changes in the Russian economy over the past year remained unchanged.