“Things will look up!”
Consumption, consumer climate, consumer are all terms that you hear again and again, but what actually lies behind them? Rolf Bürkl is a senior research consultant at GfK, the largest German market research company. In the interview, he answered questions about consumption.
UG: Mr. Bürkl, what exactly is consumption?
RB: I would describe consumption as the portion of disposable income that is not saved. There are also factors that significantly influence consumption: the labor market, general income developments and inflation.
UG: And what is meant by consumer climate?
RB: The consumer climate describes the mood of how private consumption will develop from the consumers' perspective. It is the result of regular consumer surveys regarding their attitude to overall economic development, but also their own financial situation and their propensity to save and consume.
UG: What does the consumer climate look like in Germany at the moment?
RB: The consumer climate in Germany is currently very good. Consumers are quite optimistic when it comes to consumption and the consumer climate is currently stagnating at a relatively high level, ie with a growth rate of just under 1%. Compared to the last 10-12 years, this is a pretty good value and we are also doing very well in a European comparison. Today we are roughly at the same level as before 2007, i.e. before the financial crisis.
UG: How is the consumer climate likely to develop further?
RB: We are assuming a rate of 1.5% this year: things will go up. This is mainly due to the good situation on the labor market.
UG: Do everyone in Germany benefit equally from growth?
RB: Of course these are just average figures. On average, the development looks very positive. But you can also see when you look at the income distribution values that there has been a certain polarization in recent years. This means that a part - although a large part - of households benefits from the favorable development, but there is also a considerable part that gets little from it.
UG: Students often have low incomes. Can you make any statements about the consumer behavior of students?
RB: An evaluation of consumer opinions showed that young people and students are fundamentally more optimistic than other professional groups, despite having limited budgets. They are very optimistic – sometimes euphoric – about consumption. Especially students who are at the end of their studies and are on the way to working life have certain expectations about the upcoming consumption. You expect a significantly higher income after your studies and therefore your expenses will be correspondingly higher, especially at the beginning of your working life.
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“Things will improve!” Consumption, consumer climate, consumer are all terms that you hear again and again, but what actually lies behind them? Rolf Bürkl is a senior research consultant at GfK, the largest German market research company. In the interview, he answered questions about consumption. UG: Mr. Bürkl, what exactly is consumption? RB: I would say consumption
