Taipei: Taiwan's consumer confidence has seen a slight improvement in August, yet faith in the local stock market has waned amid recent global share price volatility, according to National Central University (NCU).
According to Focus Taiwan, a survey conducted by NCU from August 18-21 revealed that Taiwan's August consumer confidence index (CCI) rose by 0.43 points from the previous month, reaching 65.01. The CCI evaluates sentiment over the next six months based on six factors: consumer prices, the domestic economic climate, the stock market, durable goods purchases, employment prospects, and family finances.
In August, four of these factors saw an increase, while confidence in the stock market and purchases of durable goods experienced a decline. The survey indicated subindexes for employment, consumer prices, family finances, and the local economic climate rose by 1.13, 0.75, 0.7, and 0.67 points respectively, reaching 73.32, 36.57, 78.12, and 81.2.
Conversely, the subindex for the stock market fell to 27.72, marking a decrease of 0.36 points, the steepest decline among the six factors. The subindex for durable goods purchases, such as cars and refrigerators, also dropped by 0.29 points to 93.14.
Dachrahn Wu, director of the NCU Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, noted the subdued growth in the CCI, despite the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics raising its 2026 economic growth forecast for Taiwan to 11.05 percent, a 39-year high. Wu attributed the decline in stock market confidence to heavy losses in the U.S. market, which were driven by inflation concerns and an AI bubble, causing the Taiex, Taiwan's benchmark index, to dip below the 40,000-point mark in late July.
Wu remarked that many investors are choosing to wait for potential buying opportunities following further possible market pullbacks. He also commented on consumer prices, noting that recent heavy rain in southern Taiwan has led to increased vegetable and fruit prices, which he anticipates will impact consumer confidence in the forthcoming September survey.
NCU clarified that a CCI subindex score between 0-100 indicates pessimism, while a score between 100-200 suggests optimism. However, August's CCI did not show optimism in any factor. Additionally, the home-buying index, compiled by NCU and Taiwan Realty, fell by 0.1 points month-on-month but remained above the 90-point threshold at 90.03.
The August CCI survey gathered 3,489 valid responses from Taiwanese consumers aged 20 and older, with a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.