Economic Confidence in Ireland

Fewer than 1 in 10 Irish people think their personal financial circumstances will get worse over the next 12 months

Despite 4 in 10 Irish people thinking that the general economic condition of Ireland will get worse over the next 12 months, fewer than 1 in 10 think their personal financial circumstances will get worse. According to research from Ipsos, personal confidence has remained broadly unchanged over the past four years, whilst general economic confidence is at its lowest point over the same time period.

Over three times as many Irish people think the general economic condition will get worse as think it will get better, whilst the reverse is true for personal financial circumstances. This study indicates that many Irish people do not believe that reports of wage restraint, redundancies and rising interest rates will affect them directly, and that their individual circumstances will stay the same or improve in the next year.

"Whilst people always tend to be more confident about their own financial circumstances than they are about the Irish economy generally, this is the widest gap between the two we have seen since the end of 2003 at the height of the Iraq war", according to Kieran O'Leary of Ipsos. "These figures indicate that confidence remains high with many people believing that the speculated economic downturn does not yet affect them."

Furthermore, despite speculated further interest rate rises, mortgage holders also remain confident with over 90% thinking that their personal financial situation will stay the same or improve over the next 12 months. However, almost half of this group think the general economic condition will get worse over the same time period.

Technical Details

Data for this report was taken from interviews conducted between July and September 2007 on Ipsos's continuous personal finance monitor which interviews 1,500 people aged 16+ in Republic of Ireland every quarter on all aspects of their personal finance. Interviews are conducted on a face-to-face basis. The survey has been running since 1999 permitting trend data on product ownership, usage and brand shares.

For further information on this report, or other aspects of Ipsos's service, please contact Kieran O'Leary on +353 1 632 6000 or