OREANDA-NEWS. January 21, 2008. From August to October 2007, consumer confidence had steeply deteriorated in Ukraine. In October, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in Ukraine stood at 95.0, 7.7 points below the value registered in August, the press service of Gfk market research company reports. Prior to this drop, the CCI had been steadily rising since April 2007, breaking the 100 mark in August 2007. This meant that Ukrainian consumers were optimistic at the end of this summer.

The Index of the Current Situation (ICS) was 96.6 in October, 9.2 points below the value registered in August. The Index of Current Personal Financial Standing х1 also fell 9.6 points over August-October, to 88.0. This is a recordlow value since June 2007. Having reached a record high in August 2007, the Index of Propensity to Consume x5 dropped 8.7 points, to 105.2. The Index of Economic Expectations (IEE) fell 6.8 points, to 93.9. Short-term expectations  of
Ukrainians deteriorated the most: This index x3 plunged 15.1 points, to 84.8. ICPS and GfK-Ukraine economists blame the steep deterioration in consumer confidence at the beginning of Fall 2007 on a steep acceleration of inflation over this period, further depreciation of the US dollar against the key global currencies, and a worsening situation on global financial markets in connection with the US mortgage crisis. In addition, the political situation in Ukraine was little comfort to the country's consumers. The pre-term
Verkhovna Rada elections did not significantly change the political situation in Ukraine and, consequently, have not brought real stability.
Inflationary expectations continue to be stably high among Ukrainians: the Index of Inflationary Expectations (IIE) was 185.6 in October 2007. Compared with August, it
remained practically flat. Against the background of an overall worsening in consumer confidence, the Index of Expected Changes in Unemployment (IECU) also deteriorated. This index was 117.1 in October 2007, a record high since June 2006.

The survey showed that consumer confidence deteriorated across all regions, except for Kyiv. Despite this deterioration, optimism prevailed in Western and Southern Ukraine in October, where the CCI was 105.2 and 102.2. The most pessimistic expectations were registered in Northern and Eastern Ukraine, where the CCI was 83.9 and 84.4. Residents of major cities showed the most pessimistic expectations: their CCI was 84.3 in October, 11.2 points below the value registered in August. The most optimistic consumer confidence was in mid-sized cities, where the CCI was 100.3. Consumer confidence deteriorated the most among poor and middle-aged Ukrainians. The CCI of Ukrainians with below-average incomes was 72.4 in October, or 14.8 points below the value registered in August. This is a record low for this year. The CCI of middleaged Ukrainians, those aged 31-45, dropped 11.5 points, to 92.8.

GfK Ukraine is a leading Ukrainian market research company. The company is a member of the  worldwide GfK research network, which includes over 130 companies in 70 countries.