Irish consumer sentiment has rebounded this month to recover almost a third of the record loss it suffered in April amid the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, according to the latest KBC Bank consumer sentiment index.
However, it also shows consumer sentiment remains close to historic lows. The April fall was the sharpest month-on-month decline in the survey's 24-year history.
The index climbed to 52.3 in May from 42.6 in April, its largest month-on-month improvement since January 2015, but remained far below the 77.3 recorded in early March.
The survey's authors linked the improvement to a slowing of the spread of the disease in recent weeks combined with the beginning of the phased easing of restrictions.