Consumer confidence inches up

THE NIELSEN COMPANY      CONSUMER CONFIDENCE     SPEND

Singapore - Consumers in Singapore are getting more optimistic about heading out of the recession, a new The Nielsen Company survey suggests.

The survey found that optimism in Singapore in the second quarter has improved from its previous all time low of 80 earlier this year, to 87 points with two key areas, job security and the economy, registering dips in levels of concern. Consumer confidence, which is closely linked to the incidence of spend has been one of the indicators of the health of the economy.

The optimism felt in Singapore follows a global one. In the survey, which polled 28 markets in June 2009, consumer optimism rose to 82 points, an increase of five points from 77 in March, spurred by renewed consumer optimism and stock market gains in BRIC markets and key Asian countries.

"The BRIC and Asian markets have recorded the greatest jumps in Consumer Confidence Indices in the past three months," said Paul Richmond, MD of the Consumer Group at The Nielsen Company Malaysia and Singapore. Consumer confidence in India jumped 13 index points, and climbed nine points in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Consumer confidence rose eight index points in Taiwan and Brazil, and seven points in Singapore, Turkey, Russia, Philippines and the UK.

"This is one of the strongest indicators of a global consensus among consumers that the worst is over, and that finally, there is light at the end of this long tunnel. And consumers in emerging and Asian markets are clearly of the view that they are driving in the recovery lane now," said Richmond.

Job security and the economy, the top two areas of concern among Singaporeans have eased up somewhat, the study finds. From 49% and 48% respectively, the levels of concern toward job security and the economy have both declined to 40%. "The only area which registered significant degree of heightened anxiety is health, which saw a 10% hike, likely due to the recent H1N1 pandemic."

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