Consumer Confidence in Slovakia

Consumer confidence is a sentiment index measuring Slovak households' perception of the general economic situation and of their own financial position, current and expected. It is compiled by the Statistical Office within the EU's harmonised survey programme and is a leading indicator of private consumption.

It is built from a monthly survey of a representative sample of households, with questions on the country's economic situation, the family's finances, unemployment and saving capacity. The index summarises the balance between optimistic and pessimistic replies (net balance), not a level with a base of 100.

The higher the confidence, the more likely households are to raise spending. As consumption is a key component of GDP in an open economy such as Slovakia's, it is a good leading indicator of the direction of activity.

Being a survey, it is subject to sampling error and to the limits of sentiment measures; moreover, stated confidence does not always translate into actual spending. It can be volatile in the face of energy price shocks or political changes.