Consumer climate: unsettled consumers put their money on the high edge

People in Germany hold their money together and partially brake an upswing through more consumption. “Above all, an increasing tendency to savings prevents the consumer climate from continuing its recovery,” says the latest consumer climate study by the Nuremberg Consumer Research Institute GfK and NIM for June. In the forecast for July, the consumer climate is slightly back to -20.3 points.

Unsettled consumers

“After three climbs in a row, the consumer climate has to accept a small damper again,” said Rolf Bürkl, consumer expert at the NIM. The increased savings tendency rejects the positive impulses through improved income prospects and increased economic expectations. A high savings tendency of consumers is also an expression of their persistent uncertainty and thus a lack of planning security.

From the consumer’s point of view, however, the signals for recovery of the German economy in the coming months are increasing. The economic indicator climbs to 20.1 points after a clear plus of seven points. This has been the highest value since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the institutes continued to say. 24.1 points were measured in February 2022.

“Many consumers apparently assume that the economy will recover in the further course of 2025,” says NIM and GfK. This hope is mainly based on the billions injections decided in Berlin for infrastructure and defense. Optimism is supported by the economic forecasts of the most important German economic research institutes.

For the study on behalf of the Brussels EU Commission, 2,000 consumers are interviewed per month. For the current investigation, the survey period was between May 30 and June 11th.