The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) has continued to drop for six months in a row. That’s the word from National Central University’s economic research center.
The CCI stood at 84.6 points in October and was slightly lower than the previous month. A value between 0 and 100 indicates pessimism while a reading above 100 indicates optimism.
The CCI has had a six straight month drop since it reached a record high at 92.93 points in April. But the center said the economic outlook is not as bad as many think in comparison with previous data. If the CCI does not drop drastically in the fourth quarter or early next year, domestic demand still has a pretty good chance of recovering.
The center interviewed more than 2,400 people aged over 20 in mid-October. All six CCI indices fell. Confidence in consumer prices and timing for investment in the equity market saw the biggest drop. The center attributed the lack of confidence in consumer prices to rising vegetable prices due to recent typhoons.