Global Consumer Confidence is at Seven-Year High

The FINANCIAL — With a score of 48.9, the global consumer confidence Primary Index is at its highest since Ipsos started tracking it in 2010.

The global Primary Index reflects attitudes of consumers in 24 countries on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situation, savings, and confidence to make large investments, as measured monthly by Ipsos Public Affairs.

Globally, the Primary Index shows gains of 0.7 points over three months, 1.9 points over 12 months, and 4.2 points over five years.

The Primary Index is up by 1.5 points or more over a three-month period in six countries. Largest increases are seen in South Korea (+9.5), Turkey (+2.6), France (+2.2), and Canada (+2.2). Only Saudi Arabia (-2.7) show a notable drop. Countries with the highest Primary Index scores continue to be China (67.0), India (66.1), Sweden (62.6), and the U.S. (60.6). Those with the lowest scores are Italy (37.2), Brazil (38.6), and South Africa (39.2).

These findings are based on data from Thomson Reuters/Ipsos’ Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI) collected in an ongoing survey of consumers from 24 countries with more than 17,500 interviews conducted each month since January 2010.

Subsets of the Primary Index, including the Jobs Index reflecting perceptions of job security, the Expectations Index reflecting economic expectations, and the Investment Index reflecting perceptions of the investment climate, are all up globally.

At a record-high 56.6, July 2017’s global Jobs Index score shows a three-month increase of 0.8 points with gains of 1.5 points or more in nine countries. The largest gains are seen in South Korea (+4.7 points), Turkey (+3.3), Spain (+2.8), Italy (+2.6) and Canada (+2.5).  Only South Africa (-3.2), India (-2.4) and Belgium (-1.5) show notable losses. The countries surveyed presenting the largest Jobs Index scores are Sweden (73.0), Germany (71.8), China (69.9), the U.S. (69.7), Canada (66.7) and Great Britain (66.2). Countries with the lowest scores are Brazil (30.6), Mexico (43.4), South Africa (43.5), and Russia (44.8).

The global Expectations Index score of 57.8 is up just 0.2 point over a 3-month period. Only one country shows a gain of 1.5 points of more: South Korea with a whopping 11.8-point gain. Two countries record decreases of 1.5 points or more: Saudi Arabia (-4.5 points) and Argentina (-2.6). India (72.8) and China (71.5) keep having the highest Expectations Index scores, while South Africa (47.8), Italy (48.4), and Turkey (49.4) have the lowest ones.

The global Investment Index shows a 3-month gain of 0.5 point to 42.3. Six countries record gains of 1.5 points or more with the largest ones in South Korea (+9.6), France (+2.7), Turkey (+2.7), and Poland (+2.6). Three countries see their Investment Index drop by 1.5 points or more: China (-3.5), Saudi Arabia (-3.1), and Great Britain (-1.9). Countries with the highest Investment Index scores are India (68.0), China (63.6), Sweden (57.6), and the U.S. (55.0). Those with the lowest scores are Japan (26.1), Italy (27.8), Hungary (31.8), and France (33.3).