German consumer climate defies economic downturn - GfK

According to the report from GfK Group, German consumer confidence paints a mixed picture for August. While there has been an increase in propensity to buy, income expectations have dropped slightly. By contrast, the economic outlook suffered a significant decline. GfK forecasts that the consumer climate in September will remain unchanged from the previous month at 9.7 points.

The global economic downturn, trade wars and the ongoing discussions surrounding Brexit are all putting increasing pressure on the economic outlook of consumers. This has resulted in the economic indicator for August dropping to its lowest level in more than six and a half years. So far, the propensity to buy has stood firm, even increasing for August. By contrast, income expectations suffered a small decline after last month's recovery.

The economic expectation indicator lost 8.3 points in August, falling to -12. The last time a lower value was recorded was more than six and a half years ago in January 2013, when it fell to -12.5 points. This means that the figure is now 30 points lower when compared to the same period last year.