2017.10.2702:29:00UTC+00Finland Consumer Confidence Falls Slightly In October

Finland's consumer confidence dropped marginally in October, but remained strong, figures from Statistics Finland showed Friday.

The consumer confidence index dropped to 23.1 in October from 23.7 September. In August, the reading was 23.5.

The survey was conducted among 1,184 households between October 2 and 19.

In October, 48 per cent of consumers believed that Finland's economic situation would improve in the coming twelve months, while 10 percent of them thought that the country's economy would deteriorate.

Households' expectations regarding their own financial situation for the next year strengthened in October. The corresponding index rose to 10.6 from 9.5 in September.

Altogether, 48 percent of consumers thought in October that unemployment would decrease over the year, while 16 percent of them believed it would increase.

Consumers predicted in October that consumer prices would go up by 1.7 percent over the next 12 months.

Another survey report released by the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK showed that confidence of Finnish manufacturing companies improved further in October.

The business confidence indicator rose to 12.0 in October from 10.0 in September. Moreover, it remained well above the long-term average of 1.0.

Among sectors, the morale strengthened in construction and services, while retail trade confidence declined.