Global consumer sentiment growth has nearly halted
Ipsos’s Global Consumer Confidence Index is now reading at 48.5, up just 0.2 point from last month. The August reading is the first since March not to show a significant month-on-month growth. Global consumer sentiment growth has slowed to a near halt as it regained its level of the days before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic in March 2020.
The Global Consumer Confidence Index is the average of 24 countries’ National Indices. It is based on a monthly survey of more than 17,500 adults under the age of 75 conducted on Ipsos’ Global Advisor online platform. This survey was fielded between July 23 and August 6, 2021.
The world’s two largest economies display a significant decline in consumer confidence as the United States’ National Index dropped by 2.3 points since July and China’s by 1.7 points. Only three of the 24 countries surveyed show significant growth in their National Index over the last month: Spain (+2.0), India (+2.0), and Poland (+1.7).
At a global level, the Jobs Index continues to see a significant level of month-on-month growth (+0.7 point), but the Investment Index is up by only 0.3 point and the Expectations Index is down by 0.4 point.
National Index Trends
Nearly unchanged from last month (+0.2 point), the Global Consumer Confidence Index reads at 48.5 — exactly the same level as in March 2020 and 0.1 point less than in the early days of January 2020 before COVID-19 had spread across the globe.
- This month, 9 countries have a National Index above 50: China (71.6), Saudi Arabia (64.5), Sweden (59.7), the U.S. (59.7), Germany (58.5), Great Britain (55.8), Australia (54.9), Canada (54.4), and India (52.9).
- Turkey (28.7) and South Africa (34.1) are the only countries with a National Index below 35.
- Spain (+2.0) and India (+2.0) display the most growth from last month, though Spain remains below the average of 48.5 by two points. The only other country to see a significant gain is Poland (+1.7), but it also remains below the global country average by 2.9 points.
Jobs, Expectations, and Investment Index Trends
The global Jobs Index is up by 0.7 point from July while the Expectations Index is down by 0.4 point and the Investment Index is barely changed (+0.3 point). No country shows a significant increase or decrease (at least +/- 1.5 points) across all three sub-indices. However, the U.S. shows significant drops in both its Expectations and Investment indices, while four countries (Canada, India, Poland, Spain) see significant gains in both their Jobs and Investment indices.
- The global Jobs Index is up 0.7 point from July 2021 and currently sits at 55.1. This is the eighth consecutive month of growth in global sentiment about employment security and outlook, but it is still below the March 2020 reading (57.0), and it remains 1.4 points below its reading of January 2020 (56.4). Spain, Poland, Canada, Sweden, and India display the largest gains, while no country shows a significant month-over-month loss in the measure.
- After three months of significant gains, the global Investment Index currently sits at 42.7 (+0.3 since July 2021). India, Spain, Poland, Canada, and Brazil see significant month-on-month gains while China, the U.S., and Turkey see a significant drop from last month.
- The global Expectations Index sits at 58.2 (-0.4 from July 2021). Expectations in the U.S., Israel, and Australia are down significantly since last month while no country shows any significant month-on-month gain. Expectations remain significantly lower than their January 2020 level in six countries: Argentina, South Africa, Turkey, Israel, Japan, and India.
