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29 March 2024

UAE consumer confidence surges

Published
By Staff/Reuters

The UAE consumer confidence about the economic outlook rose sharply in the first quarter of this year, ranking the country fourth most optimistic in the world and first in the region.

According to a quarterly survey by the global consultancy Nielsen, consumer confidence in UAE jumped 4 points to 114 in Q1 2014 compared to Q4 2013. Consumer confidence in Saudi Arabia also improved.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of markets tracked by Nielsen reported an improved recessionary sentiment compared to Q4 2013, with the steepest improvements in the UAE (-11 percentage points), Switzerland (-11pp) and Peru (-10pp).

Recessionary sentiment improved in the UAE, where the percentage of respondents who believed they were in recession dropped from 44 per cent in fourth-quarter 2013 to 33 per cent in Q1 2014 — the lowest level in the region.

In the Middle East and Africa, discretionary spending intentions increased for all categories measured in the first quarter, with the biggest increases for holidays/vacations and out-of-home entertainment rising 4 and 3 percentage points, respectively.

The survey results showed that intentions to buy new clothes and spend on home improvement projects increased 2 percentage points each.

Thirty-seven per cent put spare cash into savings and 10 per cent invested in stocks, increases of 2 percentage points each in the first quarter.

Twenty-two per cent in the region said they had no spare cash, a decline of 3 percentage points compared to fourth-quarter 2013.

Globally, consumer confidence returned to pre-financial crisis levels in the first three months of this year, at its highest since the first quarter of 2007.