Nielsen: Russia’s consumer confidence index falls to 12-year low

MOSCOW, Jan 31 (PRIME) -- Russia’s consumer confidence index fell to the 12-year low figure of 63 points in October–December 2016, marketing research company Nielsen said in a statement Tuesday citing results of a poll of online consumers conducted in December 2016.

In April–June, the index stood at 66 points, and in July–September it reached 67 points.

The fall in October–December happened due to worsening of consumer perception of the current moment from the point of view of readiness to spend money, as 84% of respondents said that now is not the best time to buy anything, which is 11 percentage points more than the figure in October–December 2015, Nielsen said.

Besides that, 80% of respondents expected the labor market condition to be bad or not good in the next 12 months. Only 27% of respondents estimated their financial situation as good or excellent, and 67% of people perceived their financial situation as bad.

The share of people thinking that the crisis in the Russian economy will end in the next 12 months plunged to the two-year minimum of 8%, while 85% of respondents still believe that the country’s economy is in crisis and 75% of people said they cut their spending compared with the previous year.

“The year of 2016 became a tough challenge for Russian consumers. The consumption model has finally transformed into the model of savings. Saving on everything has become a part of a lifestyle, and even a slight improvement of the economic situation by the end of 2016 did not inspire the activity of spending,” the company said citing Marina Yerskova, head of Nielsen Russia’s department for evaluation of efficiency of sales and marketing communications.

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