Irish consumer sentiment improved in October as tax cuts and increased spending in the annual state budget helped ease consumer gloom, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index climbed to 60.4 this month from 58.8 in September, a six-month low.
The index stood at 77 in February 2022, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and dropped to a 14-year low of 42.1 in September 2022.
"The broad tone of Irish consumer sentiment remains cautious, as cost-of-living concerns remain elevated and nervousness about the outlook for jobs has increased," the Credit Union said in a statement.
Speaking on the release of the October data and analysis, David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions, noted, "The improvement in the Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Survey in October is encouraging in that it suggests that with the right supports Irish consumers may be better able to make their way through what are very challenging times financially".
Worse Off
Although recent developments such as the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have had significant consequences for most households and businesses, and the ‘average Irish consumer is worse of than two years ago, it remains the case that economic and financial circumstances appear to vary widely across the range of Irish consumers.
For example, substantial discretionary spending power may be inferred from predominantly Irish crowds for all the country’s recent rugby world cup matches while widely based financial distress is suggested by recent data indicating that as many as 256,000 or 12% of domestic customers were in arrears on their electricity bills in June 2023.
Read More: Irish Consumers Sentiment Improved 'Fractionally' In July
News by Reuters, additional reporting and edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more retail stories, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
