South Korea Consumer Confidence Falls to One-Year Low
The composite consumer sentiment index tumbled 7.8 points month-on-month to 99.2 — its steepest back-to-back decline in recent months, following a 5.1-point drop in March. Crucially, the reading slipped below the 100-point threshold for the first time in a year since April 2025, a level that signals pessimists now outnumber optimists in the world's 13th-largest economy.
Anxiety over inflation and an economic slowdown intensified as ongoing conflict in the Middle East continued to threaten energy supply chains and cloud both domestic and global economic outlooks.
Sector-level data painted an even grimmer picture. The sub-index tracking current economic conditions cratered 18 points to 68, while the forward-looking economic outlook gauge shed 10 points, settling at 79 — both signaling deepening unease among households.
On the inflation front, consumer expectations for headline price growth over the next 12 months edged up 0.2 percentage points to 2.9 percent in April, suggesting price pressures remain a persistent concern despite broader economic softening.
The findings are drawn from a Bank of Korea survey of 2,262 households conducted between April 9 and 16.
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