According to the data provided by Info Sapiens “Consumer confidence of Ukrainians”, conducted by Info Sapiens and financially supported by Dragon Capital, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) equals 76.3 in May, which is 10.1 points higher than in April. The following Indicator`s components have changed the most: Indices of Expected Changes in Personal Financial Standing and Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development in one year.
In May 2020 the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) equaled 76.3, that is 10.1 points higher than the indicator in April.
Index of the Current Situation (ICS) increased by 5.9 points to the level of 54.7. The components of this index have changed as follows:
- – Index of Current Personal Financial Standing (х1) equaled 54.3, which is 2.0 points higher than the indicator in April;
- – Index of Propensity to Consume (х5) increased by 9.8 p. and reached the indicator of 55.1.
In May, Index of Economic Expectations (ІЕE) increased by 12.9 points to the level of 90.7. The components of this index have changed as follows:
- – Index of Expected Changes in Personal Financial Standing (х2) increased by 22.7 points comparing to the previous month and equals 92.5;
- – Index of Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development Over the Next Year (х3) increased by 19.1 points and equals 73.7;
- – Index of Expectations of the Country’s Economic Development over the Next 5 Years (х4) slightly decreased to the level of 106.0, which is 3.2 points lower than in April.
In May, the indicator of Index of Expectations of Changes in Unemployment equaled 151.8, which is 17.1 p. lower than previous month. Index of Inflationary Expectations decreased to the level of 165.4, which is 7.2 points lower than last month. Expectations of Ukrainians regarding the hryvna’s exchange rate in the coming three months have improved: Index of Devaluation Expectations decreased by 10.3 points and reached the level of 136.5.
«The consumer confidence Index in May increased and reached the level of March 2020. The main factor of growth is the improvement of expectations regarding personal financial situation, which is probably related to the termination of strict quarantine. At the same time, assessments of current personal financial situation and the propensity to make big purchases remain low and have not returned to the pre-quarantine level.» - Info Sapiens analysts comment.
How the indices are calculated
The survey «Consumer confidence in Ukraine» was conducted by GfK Ukraine since June 2000. From 2019 this project is provided by Info Sapiens. From January 2009 consumer confidence survey is conducted on a monthly basis.
In Ukraine, the Consumer Confidence Index is determined through a random survey of domestic households. The poll involves 1,000 individuals aged 16+. (Up to April 2014 the poll involved 1,000 respondents aged 15-59). A representative sample is selected by gender and age, also by type and size of settlement. In April 2014 Autonomous Republic of Crimea was excluded from the sample of consumer confidence research in Ukraine. The margin of error is 3.2%. In May 2020, the survey was conducted via CATI method with calls on mobile phones. Dates of the interviews: 9-27 of May.
To define the CCI, respondents are asked these questions:
- 1. How has the financial standing of your family changed over the last six months?
- 2. How do you think your family’s financial standing will change in the next six months?
- 3. Looking at economic conditions in the country as a whole, do you think the next 12 months will be good or bad?
- 4. Looking at the next five years, will they be good ones or bad ones for the country’s economy?
- 5. In terms of large purchases for your home, do you think now is generally a good time or a bad time to make such purchases?
- • index of Current Personal Financial Standing (x1);
- • index of Expected Changes in Personal Financial Standing (x2);
- • index of Expected Economic Conditions in the Country Over the Next Year (x3);
- • index of Expected Economic Conditions in the Country Over the Next 5 Years (x4);
- • index of Propensity to Consume (x5).
- • consumer Confidence Index (CCI) as the arithmetic average of indices x1–x5;
- • index of the Current Situation (ICS) as the arithmetic average of indices x1 and x5;
- • index of Economic Expectations (IEE) as the arithmetic average of indices x2, x3, and x4.
- 1. Do you think that within next 12 months the number of unemployed (people who do not have job and are looking for work) will increase, will remain roughly the same, or will decrease?
- 2. How do you think that prices for major consumer goods and services will change in the next 1–2 months?
- 3. How do you think the USD value will change towards the UAH value during the next 3 months?
Each of these questions is related to a corresponding index:
Indices are constructed thus: the share of negative answers is deducted from the share of positive answers, and 100 is added to this difference in order to eliminate negative values. On the basis of these five indices, three aggregate indices are calculated:
Index values range from 0 to 200. The index equals 200 when all respondents positively assess the economic situation. It totals 100 when the shares of positive and negative assessments are equal. Indices of less than 100 indicate the prevalence of negative assessments. To determine the Index of Expected Changes in Unemployment (IECU), the Index of Inflationary Expectations (IIE) and the Index of Devaluation Expectations (IDE), the respondents are asked these three questions:
The IECU, the IIE and the IDE are calculated thus: the share of answers that indicate a decrease of unemployment/inflation/devaluation is subtracted from the share of answers that indicate the growth of unemployment/inflation/devaluation, and 100 is added to the difference to eliminate negative values. The values of indices can vary from 0 to 200. The index totals 200 when all residents expect an increase in unemployment/inflation/devaluation.