Many people believe there is an upturn in the Norwegian economy

real estate agent in OsloReal estate agent in Oslo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix

Optimism is spreading among Norwegian consumers. The situation looks brighter than before, with a better outlook for both an individuals’ own, personal wallet, and for the national economy.

Each quarter, Finans Norge (Finance Norway) measures Norwegian households’ expectations of both their, and the country’s economy.

Over the past year, the trend in the ‘anticipation barometer’ has been positive, and for the second consecutive quarter, the main indicator is showing a majority of Norwegians are optimistic.

In particular, confidence in the country’s economy is improving, it was shown by figures calculated from 1,000 telephone respondents of an interview with Kantar TNS.

Consumers answered five key questions, which created an indicator showing the difference between percentages of optimistic, and pessimistic, responses.

In assessing the country’s economy in the coming year, the predominance of pessimistic responses fell from 49.5% last year, to 5.1% this year.

The main indicator (that adds up scores for all five questions, covering the same period) went from minus 15.8%, to plus 5.2%. Thus, Norwegians gave a total of 5.2% more optimistic than pessimistic responses in the survey.

‘This is a strong indication that the respondents feel that the economic downturn has bottomed out’, said CEO, Idar Kreutzer, of Finance Norway.

He also saw a clear change of sentiments among those interviewed in parts of the country that have been hit hardest by the oil slump.

For seven consecutive quarters, there were more pessimists than optimists in Southern and Western Norway. Now, there are as many optimists as pessimists.

For the past six years, consumers surveyed had a stronger belief in their own, than the country’s economy. This quarter, the measurement showed there to be a predominance of 22% who believe in better times for themselves in the coming year.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today