The Finns are finally coming out of the cold winter, and also the prospects for the Norwegians and Swedes are more positive.

According to a new global Nielsen survey, Danes maintain their position as the most optimistic consumers in Europe, primarily driven by a better view of job prospects.

Consumer confidence is rising markedly across the Nordic region. The high jumper is Finland with an 11 point improvement, followed by Norway and Sweden with respectively. 8 and 4 points. Denmark maintains the level from the last quarter which was also historically high on this side of the financial crisis – and at the same time the highest in Europe with 115 points. In Sweden, Norway and Finland, consumer confidence is 98, 90 and 81 points.

The Danes are the most optimistic consumers in Europe, and there is no indication that it will decline as long as unemployment and the economy develop in a positive direction.

Consumer confidence is built around consumers’ views on three factors:

• The Danes’ views on the job market over the next 12 months
• The Danes’ views on their personal finances over the next 12 months
• The Danes’ view of whether now is a good time to buy things they are missing

After a fall of 3 points, only 20% have a negative view of the job market in Denmark. For Sweden, the figure is 40%, which is a decrease of 9 points. Norway is at 51% after a fall of 12 points and Finland is at 70%. In Finland, the proportion who view the job market positively has quadrupled from 7% to 28% over the past year.

2 out of 3 Danes view their personal finances positively, which is 3 percentage points better than a year ago. In Sweden, the proportion who view the personal economy positively has risen 4 points over the last year to 60%. 47% of Finns view their personal finances positively, which is an improvement of 13 points compared to a year ago, while the proportion is 44% among Norwegians.

When asked whether it is a good time to buy what you need, 57% answer positively, while the figures for resp. Sweden, Norway and Finland are 46, 41 and 34%.

Consumer confidence can also be read in the proportion of the population who believe that their country is still in recession.

ver second finn against every third Norwegian, Swedes and Danes believe that their country is in recession. However, there is a great deal of movement among the Finns at this point, with 8 out of 10 a year ago believing that Finland was in recession. In Europe, 57% of the population believe that their country is in recession.