Morocco marked its first introduction to the Nielsen’s consumer confidence survey in the third quarter with an index score of 85. This quarter’s addition of Morocco brings the total number of countries surveyed to 61, globally. Among consumers surveyed in the country, about four-in-10 respondents believed their job prospects (38%) and personal finances (42%) would be good or excellent in the next 12 months, and one-third were optimistic about their immediate spending capacity (33%). Just over half (51%) believed their country was in a recession, while top concerns included job security (28%), the economy (23%) and terrorism (19%).
“Morocco’s economy has been able to achieve economic gains in the last decades and is expected to end the year with growth,” said Tamer El Araby, managing director, Nielsen North Africa & Levant. “However, this growth isn’t reflected in the employment rates, which haven’t increased substantially and remain low compared to other markets in the region. This explains why job security is among the biggest concerns for Moroccans.”
Regionally, consumer confidence decreased in three of five countries measured in the Middle East/Africa region but increased four points in Saudi Arabia (109) and five points in Egypt (90) in the second quarter. At 107, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had the second highest index in the region, but it decreased one point from the second quarter—the second consecutive quarter of declines and the lowest score for the country since 2013. Confidence declined five points in South Africa to 82 and one point in Pakistan to 101.
“In South Africa, a decline in confidence was not a surprise, as interest rates increased early in the quarter and the value of the Rand against the U.S. dollar took a steep drop,” said Allen Burch, managing director, Nielsen sub-Saharan Africa. “Recessionary sentiment also increased eight percentage points in the third quarter, as 81% of South African respondents believed their country was in a recession.”
Regionally, sentiment about immediate spending intentions increased two percentage points to 38%, but sentiment about personal finances and job prospects declined two percentage points each to 56% and 43%, respectively, from the second quarter. Recessionary sentiment improved in Egypt (76%) and Pakistan (68%) from the second quarter but worsened in the UAE (43%), Saudi Arabia (48%) and South Africa (81).
Other findings include:
For more detail and insight, download Nielsen’s Q3 2015 Global Consumer Confidence Report.
For a historical look at global consumer confidence by region, country and time period, explore the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Trend Tracker.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions was conducted Aug. 10-Sept. 4, 2015, and polled more than 30,000 online consumers in 61 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East/Africa and North America. The sample includes Internet users who agreed to participate in this survey and has quotas based on age and sex for each country. It is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers by country. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. However, a probability sample of equivalent size would have a margin of error of ±0.6% at the global level. This Nielsen survey is based only on the behavior of respondents with online access. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60% Internet penetration or an online population of 10 million for survey inclusion. The China Consumer Confidence Index is compiled from a separate mixed methodology survey among 3,500 respondents in China. The sub-Saharan African countries in this study are compiled from a separate mobile methodology survey among 1,600 respondents in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. The Nielsen Global Survey, which includes the Global Consumer Confidence Index, was established in 2005.