Ljubljana - Consumer confidence in July was slightly worse than in June, but better than in July last year and still above the long-term average. The consumer confidence indicator was one percentage point lower than in June and three percentage points higher than the long-term average, the Statistics Office said on Thursday.

The statisticians explained that the monthly decrease was mostly due to consumers being more pessimistic about the economic situation in the country - down by eight percentage points.

On the other hand, the decline was alleviated by consumers' more optimistic view of the current financial situation of households, which was up by four percentage points, and expectations of major purchases - up by two percentage points.

Year-on-year, consumer confidence indicator in July was up by 10 percentage points and eight percentage points higher compared to the average indicator value in 2020. Improvements were also recorded in consumers' expectations for car purchases and for home renovation.

At the annual level, improvements were recorded in all four components of the consumer sentiment indicator: expectations about the country's economy (+19), expectations related to major purchases (+11), expectations about households' finances (+5), and current households' finances (+2).