This month's "Consumer Confidence Index," which indicates consumers' willingness to shop, improved for the first time in three months, as economic and social activities began to recover during the summer vacation, when there were no restrictions on activities.
The Consumer Confidence Index asks 8,400 households nationwide about their living conditions in the next six months, whether it is time to buy a car or home appliance, and shows the consumer sentiment as an index.
In a survey conducted this month, the index for households with two or more people was 32.5, up 2.3 points from last month and improving for the first time in three months.
The Cabinet Office has analyzed that the background is that economic and social activities have been on a recovery trend during the summer vacation, when there are no restrictions on movement due to the new coronavirus.
However, based on the downward trend of the index that continued until last month, the underlying judgment of consumer sentiment remains "weak".
On the other hand, when asked about the outlook for prices one year from now, 93.8% of households answered that prices would rise.
Although it has fallen slightly for three months in a row, it remains at a high level due to the rise in prices of daily necessities.
The Cabinet Office said, ``The atmosphere is gradually changing to the point that the presence or absence of restrictions on behavior has a greater impact on consumer psychology than the increase or decrease in the number of infected people.''