Ljubljana - Slovenia's consumer confidence has not changed this month, remaining at the lowest point since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, down 19 percentage points on August 2021 and 17 points below the long-term average, data from the Statistics Office shows.

Compared with July, consumers were this month more upbeat about the prospects for household finances and for the state of the country's economy, with the respective indicators rising by 5 and 4 points, respectively.

However, the improvement was offset by declines in the indicators showing expectations for major purchases and current state of household finances, each of which fell by three points.

Year-on-year, all four components of consumer confidence deteriorated: expectations about the state of economy worsened by as much as 25 points, as expectations for household finances slumped by 22 points, the confidence about the current state of household finances dropped by 17 points and the perceived prospects for major purchases deteriorated by 11 points.

Consumers continue to be pessimistic in their expectations for inflation over the next 12 months, but slightly less than in July with 42% now expecting prices to rise at a faster rate in the coming months, compared to 56% who thought so in July. The proportion was at a record-high 68% in March.

The Statistics Office calculates the consumer confidence indicator in the outlook for inflation based on a ratio reflecting an aggregate of answers. The ratio of expectations for the next 12 months stands at 81% this month, up 12 points from July for a new high since data collection began in March 1996.