Swiss consumer spending above previous year’s level in October
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 08:40
Updated At: Friday, Nov 15th 2024, 00:59
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Consumption in Switzerland continued to develop positively in October. However, the recovery in the Postfinance consumption indicator is only based on certain areas of consumption.
Adjusted for calendar effects, Swiss consumer spending in October 2024 was 0.5% higher than in the same month of the previous year, the Swiss Post subsidiary announced on Thursday. This is the same growth rate as in the previous month.
In August, however, consumption fell by 0.1% year-on-year and in July by as much as 2.4%. The latest increase reflects the significant improvement in consumer sentiment compared to the previous year, according to Postfinance.
Nevertheless, a certain degree of caution remains, explained Postfinance. The recovery of the indicator remains fragile and is only based on certain areas.
Among the sub-indicators, the one for "everyday life & household", for example, shows that people are still spending less on everyday goods than last year. According to Postfinance, this trend is particularly evident for books and newspapers as well as items for pets.
According to the figures, spending in the "Beauty & Wellness" sector also remains subdued. Nevertheless, in some areas, such as beauty and health treatments, spending increased compared to the previous month.
Restaurant visits remain popular
Meanwhile, leisure spending by the Swiss remained at a high level. Spending in restaurants in particular supported the "fun & leisure" sub-indicator, while people were somewhat more stingy when it came to sporting activities.
And the local population continues to travel a lot, which is reflected in slightly higher spending on visits to restaurants worldwide. However, total expenditure on travel has decreased slightly.
Every month, Postfinance anonymously evaluates the payment transactions of its 2.5 million customers. The consumption indicator calculated from this shows consumer spending adjusted for sales day and public holiday effects in a year-on-year comparison or on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with the previous month for the sub-indicators "Everyday life & household", "Beauty & wellness", "Fun and leisure" and "Travel".
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