It its latest Consumer Climate Europe survey, the researcher said economic expectations in Romania rose to minus 26 points in March, from minus 34 points in December 2011.
“Economic development in EU countries continues to be viewed very negatively. However, in comparison with the last quarter of 2011, some countries are showing somewhat improved values,” GfK said.
It said the best indicator values are recorded in Germany (+7.2 points), followed by Poland (-6.2 points) and France (-10.4 points), while the worst in Portugal (-40.6 points), Greece (-50.8 points) and the Czech Republic (-62.7 points).
German consumers were also the most inclined to open their purses in the first quarter. The willingness to buy indicator for the country stood at 38.6 points, followed by Austria with 26.6 points.
Romanians’ willingness to buy decreased to minus 32 points at the end of March, from minus 28 in December.
However, Romanian nationals are slightly more optimistic about income expectations compared with the last quarter of 2011. The indicator increased to minus 22 points in the first three months of 2012, from minus 27 a quarter earlier, the survey showed.
GfK polled consumers in twelve EU countries, making up approximately 80% of the population in the EU27 bloc. The twelve states are Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the UK.