BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) - German consumer sentiment is set to deteriorate heading into April, as households brace for energy prices driven higher by the war in Iran to pump up inflation and hold back Germany's fledgling economic recovery, a survey showed on Thursday.
The consumer sentiment index, published by the GfK market research institute and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, dropped 3.2 points to land at -28.0 for April.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a somewhat smaller
drop, to -27.0 points.
Consumers' income expectations plummeted into negative territory over fears inflation could eat into their buying power, as did their economic expectations, which were at their lowest level since December 2022.
According to the survey, many consumers are concerned that the cautious recovery of the German economy could suffer a serious setback, especially if the conflict were to drag on.
"In a recent NIM study, 60% of Germans state that they expect prices for oil, gas and petrol to remain high in the long term. This naturally has a negative impact on consumers' mood," said Rolf Buerkl, head of consumer climate at NIM.
Buerkl added that propensities to buy and to save are not yet showing the effects of the Middle East crisis.
Buying propensity showed only a 1.6-point drop on the month, to -10.9 points in March, while the inclination to save lost 0.4 points, to settle at a very high level of 18.5 points.
APR MAR APR
2026 2026 2025
Consumer climate -28.0 -24.3
-24.8
Consumer climate components
MAR FEB MAR
2026 2026 2025
- economic expectations -6.9 4.3 6.9
- income expectations -6.3 6.3 -3.1
- willingness to buy -10.9 -9.3 -8.2
- willingness to save 18.5 18.9 13.8
* The survey period was March 5-16,2026. * An indicator reading above zero signals year-on-yeargrowth in private consumption. A value below zero indicates adrop compared with the same period a year earlier. * According to GfK, a one-point change in the indicatorcorresponds to a year-on-year change of 0.1% in privateconsumption. * The "willingness to buy" indicator represents the balancebetween positive and negative responses to the question: "Do youthink now is a good time to buy major items?" * The income expectations sub-index reflects expectationsabout the development of household finances in the coming 12months. * The economic expectations index reflects respondents'assessment of the general economic situation over the next 12months.(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas Seythal)
