Consumer confidence at nine-year high
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 25 Mar, 2015 CET.
Updated: Wed 25 Mar 2015 09:13 CET
There was a double dose of good news for the Danish economy this week, as new reports revealed that consumer confidence levels are at their highest point since 2006 and youth unemployment is dropping faster in Denmark than anywhere else in Europe.
Danish consumer confidence hit its highest level since 2006 in February, Statistics Denmark said this week, the latest in a number of signs that the nation has shaken of the effects of the economic crisis.
As more households felt their financial situation would improve in the coming year, the index rose to 13.9 last month, its highest level in nine years.
“Consumers continue to assess that their family’s economic situation is better today than it was a year ago. At the same time, they assess Denmark’s economic situation as significantly better than one year ago,” Statistics Denmark stated.
A consumer confidence index of 13.9 is not only the highest since 2006, it is more than twice as high just three months ago. It is also significantly over the past six months’ average of 8.8.
The new consumer confidence index came just days after Denmark’s central bank, Nationalbanken, upgraded its economic expectations for 2015. Nationalbanken is now predicting Denmark’s GDP to grow by 2.0 percent this year, a 0.3 percent increase over its projections from December. The bank also marginally upgraded its 2016 growth forecast to 2.1 percent.
The positive economic news was also coupled with a new report that showed that youth unemployment has decreased faster in Denmark than in any other European country.
According to numbers from EU statistics agency Eurostat, unemployment among Danes under the age of 25 fell by 23 percent between January 2014 and January 2015.
“Young people have a long working life ahead of them and the costs to both individuals are enormous if young people are stuck in unemployment,” Employment Minister Henrik Dam Kristensen told the trade magazine Momentum.
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Danish consumer confidence hit its highest level since 2006 in February, Statistics Denmark said this week, the latest in a number of signs that the nation has shaken of the effects of the economic crisis.
As more households felt their financial situation would improve in the coming year, the index rose to 13.9 last month, its highest level in nine years.
“Consumers continue to assess that their family’s economic situation is better today than it was a year ago. At the same time, they assess Denmark’s economic situation as significantly better than one year ago,” Statistics Denmark stated.
A consumer confidence index of 13.9 is not only the highest since 2006, it is more than twice as high just three months ago. It is also significantly over the past six months’ average of 8.8.
The new consumer confidence index came just days after Denmark’s central bank, Nationalbanken, upgraded its economic expectations for 2015. Nationalbanken is now predicting Denmark’s GDP to grow by 2.0 percent this year, a 0.3 percent increase over its projections from December. The bank also marginally upgraded its 2016 growth forecast to 2.1 percent.
The positive economic news was also coupled with a new report that showed that youth unemployment has decreased faster in Denmark than in any other European country.
According to numbers from EU statistics agency Eurostat, unemployment among Danes under the age of 25 fell by 23 percent between January 2014 and January 2015.
“Young people have a long working life ahead of them and the costs to both individuals are enormous if young people are stuck in unemployment,” Employment Minister Henrik Dam Kristensen told the trade magazine Momentum.
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