The drops have come to a halt, but for how long?
In March, the index has not changed considerably on the previous month, although it’s clear that there have been no new drops since November 2020, with a weak but ongoing growth trend instead.
March marks the one year anniversary of the pandemic and the first lockdown, and that’s a good moment to look back at the Consumer Index in a longer time frame. Let’s see how consumers evaluate the changes of the past year. It turs out that the oldest age group (60+), as well as the least educated consumers, have experienced the deteriorating situation relatively the least severely. On the other hand, younger people notice a considerable change for the worse. The more educated the consumers, the more critical their perceptions. It seems, therefore, that younger and better educated people are more susceptible to messages about the general situation in the country, and believe that the turn of events on a national level applies to them personally to some extent as well. When we asked our respondents to compare the situation of their households now and a year ago, the differences were not substantial, with the individual socio-demographic aspects barely affecting the overall picture.
A year after the pandemic has been officially announced, the world is facing the third and likely the strongest wave of Covid-19 infections. Poland has seen a new set of restrictions introduced in the recent weeks, with another lockdown looming ahead. The news is clearly not good, which makes the improving consumer sentiment seem even more comforting. Unfortunately, this optimistic trend may be interrupted by the new set of restrictions and potentially a complete lockdown as well, especially if it’s introduced during the Easter season.