According to the ‘Global Consumer Confidence Survey,’ the Portuguese confidence index rose 17 points year-on-year to 82 points (100 is the highest level of optimism), the highest value ever in Portugal, close to the European average (85 points) and above countries like France, Russia, Italy and Greece.
One of the novelties is that most Portuguese (51 percent) no longer consider that the country is in economic recession, even showing in this question an optimism higher than that observed in the European average (59 percent of Europeans believe that their country is in recession), the study said.
Portuguese optimism extends to the professional and financial outlook, with improvements compared to the previous year, making consumers more open to consumption.
Portuguese consumers have also changed their spending habits, but saving is still a priority: “After paying essential expenses, 45 percent choose to use the surplus money to make savings.”
The Portuguese are mainly concerned with the balance between their personal and professional life, unlike the remainder of Europeans, who are essentially concerned with terrorism and health issues. Even so, the concern about terrorism is the one that has increased most this quarter compared to the year-ago period, and isnow in fourth place in terms of what worries the Portuguese population.
“These results make us believe that the improvements in the national situation after the crisis period and this feeling of recovery have made the Portuguese more optimistic, probably because they are recovering from a very negative situation in the past,” said Ana Paula Barbosa, of Nielsen Portugal, cited in the statement.
Europe overall posted a consumer confidence increase of five points in the second quarter, reaching an index score of 85. The job outlook surged six percentage points to 37 percent, personal financial sentiment rose three percentage points to 45 percent, and immediate spending intentions increased two percentage points to 36 percent.
While second-quarter scores varied widely in the region, from a high of 115 in Denmark to a low of 52 in Greece, the majority of markets (22 of 33) increased in confidence.
In three of the region’s top five economies, consumer confidence increased: up two points in Germany (103), eight points in France (75) and five points in Spain (91). Conversely, the U.K. posted a decline of three points (99).
This online survey of 30,000 respondents in 63 countries was conducted in Portugal between 20 May and 10 June, with a sample of 499 respondents.