GfK: Romanians' shopping tendency continued to decline in Q1 | Progresiv
In the first quarter of 2018, Romanian consumers continued to show a major lack of optimism. Even though the indicators did not fall so steeply as in December 2017, expectations of earnings and the tendency to buy continued to decline. Only economic expectations grew slightly by 2.7 points to 16.6 points, according to GfK. 
The Romanians' income expectations are on a downward spiral, GfK data show. The figures further declined, with a single figure reaching 4.1 points in March - 2.6 points below the December 2017 level. In March 2016, this indicator stabilized at 33.7 points.
The availability to buy reported a similar evolution. In March it fell to -2.7 points, 2.5 points below the December 2017 level.
At European level, the consumer climate remained relatively stable. In March, however, the GfK consumer climate survey in the 28 Member States registered a slight decline, reaching 20.6 points. In December 2017, it stagnated at 21.1 points. GfK forecasts for 2018 an increase in household consumption in the European Union from 1.5% to 2% in real terms.
The attitude of European consumers proves to be less optimistic in the first quarter of 2018, compared with the end of last year. Countries that have seen strong growth at the end of 2017 have now lost points. On average, in all EU countries, economic expectations fell by 15 points in March 2018. This means that they are two points below the December 2017 level. In France and Austria, in particular, the euphoria seems to have diminished temporarily after the elections. Consumers in the Czech Republic and Belgium have a much more optimistic outlook on the economic development of their countries.
Income expectations continued to rise on average across Europe - 1.3 points in the first three months, reaching 16.3 points in March. Consumers in the UK and Bulgaria had the most optimistic wage growth expectations, plus two digits for this indicator. Clear decreases were reported in France and Spain.
The purchasing tendency declined on average throughout the European Union by 1.3 points at the beginning of the year and stabilized at 19.7 points in March. This indicator has increased especially in the Czech Republic (in contrast to most other European countries) and highlights the overall positive attitude of consumers in this country.
