Consumer Confidence in Portugal

Measures how optimistic or pessimistic Portuguese consumers feel about the past and future state of their finances, the country's economic situation and their intentions to buy durable goods over the next 12 months. It is published as a balance of extreme responses, not as an index based at 100.

The statistics office INE runs a monthly telephone survey (Inquérito Qualitativo de Conjuntura aos Consumidores) of more than 1,000 households. The indicator is the average of the extreme-response balances of four questions, published seasonally adjusted with a three-month moving average.

An improvement points to greater willingness to spend, while sustained falls tend to precede weaker household spending, a key component of Portuguese GDP.

A qualitative sentiment gauge rather than a measure of actual spending. The published version uses a three-month moving average, so it lags sharp one-month swings.