Indicators : Consumer confidence

Description: The consumer confidence indicator published by the European Commission provides the balance of optimistic and pessimistic answers from consumers that participated in a consumer confidence survey (as a percentage of the number of answers). The index is equal to zero if the number of optimistic answers is the same as the number of pessimistic answers, equal to 100 if all answers are optimistic and equal to -100 if all answers are pessimistic. Note that nothing guarantees that the long-term average of the indicator is equal to zero. That is why a long-term average is provided in the table.

The national indicators that are provided in the table are not necessarily calculated in the same way as those published by the European Commission. In fact, although the surveys themselves are standardised, the statistical institutes in each country use their own methods to summarise the results of the surveys. The average of the past 15 years that is provided for every indicator in the table can serve as a benchmark to put recent values of the consumer confidence indicator into perspective.

Unit: Difference between optimistic and pessimistic answers in percent of total answers (European Commission, NBB, CBS), index with a long-term average of 100 (INSEE), seasonally adjusted series

Source: European Commission, NBB (Belgium), INSEE (France), CBS (Netherlands)