BERLIN, Jan 26 (Reuters) - German consumer sentiment is
set to tumble in February as households continue to brace for
uncertainty, swiftly dashing faint hopes of recovery for
Europe's largest economy after a rise at the turn of the year, a
survey showed on Friday.
    The consumer sentiment index unexpectedly fell heading into
February, dipping to -29.7 points from -25.4 the month before.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a slight rise to -24.5.
    "If there were any hopes of a sustained recovery in
sentiment, these were dashed in January," said Rolf Buerkl,
consumer expert at the NIM. "The consumer climate suffered a
severe setback at the beginning of the year."
    Consumers' willingness to save soared at the start of the
year to its highest point since August 2008, which in particular
led to the dip in overall sentiment, with decreases in income
expectations and the propensity to buy also contributing. 
    Crises and wars, as well as persistently high inflation, are
preventing any lasting improvement, according to the monthly
survey of around 2,000 consumers published by the GfK institute
and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).
    
                                FEB 2024  JAN 2024  FEB 2023
 Consumer climate               -29.7     -25.4     -33.8
 Consumer climate components    JAN 2024  DEC 2023  JAN 2023
 - willingness to buy           -14.8     -8.8      -18.7
 - income expectations          -20.0     -6.9      -32.2
 - business cycle expectations  -6.6      -0.4      -0.6
    
NOTE - The survey period was from Jan. 4-15, 2024.
    
    The consumer climate indicator forecasts the progress of
real private consumption in the following month.
    An indicator reading above zero signals year-on-year growth
in private consumption. A value below zero indicates a drop
compared with the same period a year earlier.
    According to GfK, a one-point change in the indicator
corresponds to a year-on-year change of 0.1% in private
consumption.
    The "willingness to buy" indicator represents the balance
between positive and negative responses to the question: "Do you
think now is a good time to buy major items?"
    The income expectations sub-index reflects expectations
about the development of household finances in the coming 12
months.
    The additional business cycle expectations index reflects
respondents' assessment of the general economic situation over
the next 12 months.

 (Reporting by Miranda Murray, Editing by Rachel More)