Consumer Confidence in Brazil rises in October after 2 months of decline, FGV shows

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Consumer Confidence Index (ICC), calculated by the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV/Ibre), rose 1 point in October to 76.3 points, after two months of decline.

In quarterly moving averages, the index remained negative, dropping 2 points to 77.8.

In October, the ICC was influenced by improved expectations. The Present Situation Index (ISA) advanced 0.2 points to 69 points, while the Expectations Index (IE) rose 1.3 points to 82.4 points.

There was an accommodation of the consumers’ evaluation of the current situation. The indicator that measures consumers’ perception of the current economic situation varied 0.3 points in October to 74.8 points, and the one that measures satisfaction with personal finances, 0.2 points to 63.8 points. Both remain at a very low level in historical terms.

With regard to expectations for the months ahead, the indicator that most influenced the IE was the one measuring the outlook for the family financial situation, which advanced 3.8 points to 83.5, recovering only 30% of the losses suffered in September.

The indicator that measures the expectations about the economic situation registered a 1-point increase to 98.5 points. But even with better family financial perspectives, the impetus to buy for the coming months continued to fall for the second consecutive month, 0.9 points to 67.5 points.

The analysis by income bracket reveals worsening confidence only for consumers with incomes of up to R$2,100, accumulating a drop of -1.4 to 63.7.

The income bracket between R$2,100.01 and R$ 4,800 recorded the best performance, with a high of 5.3 points, to 73 points.

The survey collected information from 1,508 households between October 1 and 21.