Confidence in the Czech economy fell further in September, falling four points month-on-month to 90.1. Businesses and consumers were more pessimistic, with confidence in the Czech economy falling to its lowest level since the survey began in January 2003, to 72.7 points. This was revealed in data published by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO) on Monday. Confidence in the Czech economy is also lower year-on-year.
Business confidence fell by four points to 93.6 compared to August, while the month-on-month consumer confidence drop was more extensive, by 4.4 points.
“Consumer pessimism strengthened significantly in September. Month-on-month, the number of respondents fearing a deterioration of the overall economic situation, their financial situation, an increase in unemployment, and further price rises in the next 12 months increased,” said Anastasija Nejasova from the CSO’s economic surveys department.
Nejasova added that almost a third of households say they are already struggling to make ends meet. However, the CSO said there was a slight decrease in respondents among consumers who rated their current financial situation worse than in the previous 12 months.
In the business sector, industry-selected service sectors and trade declined confidence in the economy. In contrast, trust in the construction sector rose slightly after a significant decline in August.
According to Jiří Obst, head of the CSO’s economic surveys department, business confidence has been significantly affected in recent months by uncertainty about future economic development. In industry, the share of companies expecting their production to decrease in the next three months has prevailed for almost a year. Construction firms and an increasing proportion of service businesses also expect a fall in demand.
Confidence in the Czech economy among industrial enterprises fell by 3.3 points month-on-month to 93.6. The confidence indicator fell by 2.5 points to 92.7 in the trade sector and by 5.3 points to 92.7 in selected service sectors, including the financial industry.
In contrast, business confidence in the construction sector increased by 1.2 points to 111.4 points compared to August. According to the statistics, construction firms expect, among other things, an increase in the number of employees for the next three months. In addition, the number of those wishing for further increases in work prices fell significantly month-on-month. However, expectations of continued price increases are still well above average, the statisticians added.