Consumer sentiment improved to a nine-month high in January but the index remained far below its long-term average, a survey showed today.
The latest Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Survey climbed to 64.7 in January from 61.2 in December, with the authors noting that the measure tends to rise in the first month of the year.
Consumer confidence is above April's two-year low of 58.7 at the height of US tariff concerns but much lower than both the reading of 74.9 a year ago and the long-term survey average of 83.5.
There were more negative than positive responses to all five elements of the survey and all five were weaker than a year ago.
"Irish consumers may be detecting at least tentative signs of a slowdown in living cost inflation of late," the survey's authors said in a statement.
But the "still downbeat tone of sentiment suggests consumers view this as some degree of easing in current pressures rather than signalling any clear gains in household spending power," they added.
The survey also broke down sentiment by gender and age as part of a special section this month. It found that male consumers are much more upbeat than females, while under 45s are also more positive than their older counterparts.
