*
Consumer sentiment index rises to -23.2 points for
December
*
Retailers expect stable Christmas sales
*
Households' economic expectations fall
(Adds Ifo survey and retail association forecasts from
paragraph 8)
By Miranda Murray and Maria Martinez
BERLIN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Consumer sentiment in Germany
will improve slightly in December as households show more
willingness to spend on Christmas gifts and festive
celebrations, though less rosy income prospects are preventing a
stronger recovery, surveys showed on Thursday.
The consumer sentiment index, published by the GfK market
research institute and the Nuremberg Institute for Market
Decisions (NIM), rose to -23.2 points for December from -24.1
points the month before, in line with analysts' expectations.
Overall sentiment was boosted by the second consecutive
monthly increase - a 3.3-point rise - in consumers' willingness
to buy, bringing it to the same level as a year earlier at -6.0
points.
A 2.1-point dip in their readiness to save also helped.
DEC 2025 NOV 2025 DEC 2024
Consumer climate -23.2 -24.1 -23.1
Consumer climate components NOV 2025 OCT 2025 NOV 2024
- economic expectations -1.1 0.8 -3.6
- income expectations -0.1 2.3 -3.5
- willingness to buy -6.0 -9.3 -6.0
- willingness to save 13.7 15.8 11.9
"Consumer sentiment is currently at almost exactly the same
level as last year. This is good news for retailers with an eye
to year-end business: The data points to stable Christmas
sales," said Rolf Buerkl, head of consumer climate at NIM.
"On one hand this shows a certain stability in consumer
sentiment but on the other hand, it shows that consumers do not
expect a drastic recovery in the short term," he added.
RETAILERS BRACE FOR SUBDUED FESTIVE SEASON
A different survey by the Ifo Institute showed that around
one in four companies in the retail sector anticipated business
will be poor this Christmas season.
"Retailers' expectations are subdued. Many of them are
entering the most important sales period of the year without any
great hopes," said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at Ifo.
Just under half of the companies expect average business,
while only around 10% of retailers are forecasting bumper
Christmas sales.
Germany's retail sector expects modest annual growth this
holiday season, with sales forecast at 126.2 billion euros
($146.1 billion) for November and December according to the
retail association HDE.
HOUSEHOLDS LOOK WITH PESSIMISM INTO NEW YEAR
Households' economic expectations for the next 12 months
fell nearly two points month on month, to -1.1 points, but were
still 2.5 points higher compared with last year's level, the GfK
survey showed.
Germany's economy is expected to grow by only 0.2% in 2025
after two years of contraction as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's
spending measures need time to translate into better conditions.
In the case of the Ifo survey focused on retailers,
expectations are gloomier than in the previous year: 42.2% of
retailers anticipate a worse end to the year than in 2024, while
35% are planning for unchanged sales.
A look at the individual segments shows a gloomy picture
across the board, with toy retailers, which otherwise perform
strongly in the run-up to Christmas, particularly pessimistic.
Around one in two of them expects a worse result.
($1 = 0.8618 euros)
(Reporting by Miranda Murray
Editing by Madeline Chambers and Joe Bavier)
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