BERLIN, May 29 (Reuters) - German consumer sentiment
improved for the fourth month in a row heading into June as the
outlook brightened somewhat in Europe's biggest economy and
income expectations rose, a survey showed on Wednesday.
    The consumer sentiment index rose by 3.1 points to -20.9
points heading into June from a revised -24.0 the month before.
It was above expectations of analysts polled by Reuters for a
-22.5 reading.
    An improved willingness to buy and less appetite to save
boosted the index, published jointly by the GfK institute and
the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).
    "Falling inflation rates combined with respectable wage and
salary increases are boosting consumers' purchasing power," said
Rolf Buerkl, consumption expert at NIM. 
    "Nevertheless, there still seems to be uncertainty among
German consumers," he said, adding that they were lacking the
clear economic prospects needed to invest in larger purchases.

                                JUN 2024  MAY 2024  JUN 2023
 Consumer climate               -20.9     -24.0     -24.2
 Consumer climate components    MAY 2024  APR 2024  MAY 2023
 - willingness to buy           -12.3     -12.6     -16.1
 - income expectations          12.5      10.7      -8.2
 - business cycle expectations  9.8       0.7       12.3
    
NOTE - The survey period was from May 2-13, 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 Friederike Heine, Editing by Rachel More)