Consumer confidence in the performance of Ireland’s economy has increased sharply over the past year, according to Plan 24, a consumer sentiment report conducted by Amárach Research for DMG Media’s Business Plus magazine. The survey of 1,200 nationally-represented adults was carried out the week before Budget 24. It shows one in seven respondents (14 per cent) said the economy was now showing clear signs of improvement.
The economy has almost recovered from consumer price inflation and borrowing costs.
The study reveals that financial resilience has improved over the last year with one in two respondents saying their household could afford to pay an unexpected expense of €1,000, which is up from 39 per cent last year. A similar percentage believe the economic situation in Ireland was getting worse, down from 80 per cent who felt the same in a similar survey conducted in April 2022, and that they were feeling the impact of inflation.
They were still worried they won’t be able to pay for basic necessities in the near future.
Four out of five (80 per cent) of respondents said they were re-evaluating their lifestyles to consume less, have stopped buying certain things because they are too expensive and don’t go out as often as they would like to because of cost. The research also found that hard work, determination, perseverance, imagination, and thrift have assumed greater importance for parents in terms of the qualities they want their children to grow up with.
Some 72 per cent of those surveyed feel better off or much the same as they did ten years ago, while one in five expect to be worse off in a decade from now. One in three said they expect that future technologies will have a negative effect on their lives in coming decades. A panel discussion involved Gerard O’Neill, Amárach Research, who presented the results; Danny McCoy, CEO, Ibec and Caroline Spillane, CEO, Institute of Directors in Ireland.
Pictured above are Nick Mulcahy, Business Plus, Danny McCoy, Ibec, Caroline Spillane, IDI, Paul Henderson, DMG Media and Gerard O’Neill, Amárach Research
