Irish consumers remain concerned about the uncertain economic outlook and the cost-of-living squeeze.
The latest Credit Union consumer sentiment index was 61.2 last month, almost unchanged from the 61 rating reported for November.
The headline value was, however, markedly lower than a year ago on the back of possible risks to the economy and cost-of-living pressures, the report said.
It was also by “some considerable distance below the near 30-year survey average of 83.6”, it said.
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“This suggests that 2025 has been a worrisome year for Irish consumers and those worries, for a range of reasons, continue to weigh on sentiment,” the report said.
Report author Austin Hughes said that while the Irish economy was still growing strongly, the jobs market was slowing.
Key economic data for the third quarter and the Exchequer returns for the first 11 months of 2025 released at the start of the survey period, coupled with relatively positive commentaries from the Central Bank and the Economic & Social Research Institute at the end of the survey period, “likely contributed to a view that a frequently threatened sharp slowdown was, at very least, far from imminent”, he said.
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However, he said the data also pointed to a slowdown in job creation while there were ongoing warnings about losses of jobs in the tech sector.
At the same time, slower food price inflation might be making consumers marginally “less negative about living costs”, he said.
“In circumstances where official inflation data released during the survey period showed a further pickup (from 3 per cent in October to 3.2 per cent in November), this result may appear slightly surprising,” Mr Hughes said.
“However, consumers may have sensed some pullback in the pace of increase in living costs of late in line with the slowing in official inflation data released in early January after the survey closed.”
The Credit Union report said that compared to December 2024, the mood of the consumer was sharply down in the US and was markedly weaker in Ireland whereas it had not materially changed in either the Euro area or in the UK.
