Korea: Consumer confidence picks up but remains pessimistic in December
Consumer confidence came in at 89.9 in December, up from November’s 86.5. Despite the uptick, the index remained below the 100-point threshold, pointing to improving, albeit still negative confidence among consumers.
The increase in the index reflected a broad-based improvement in its subcomponents, including current and future domestic economic conditions and prospective living standards. The only subcomponent not to improve was consumers’ views of current living standards which stayed flat.
Consumer expectations for inflation a year ahead stood at 3.8% in December (November: 4.2%).