Global Consumer Confidence Comes in at 50.5
The Global Consumer Confidence Index measures at 50.5 this September, up just 0.1 points from three months ago. China (+3.2 to 74.4), India (+0.6 to 64.7), the United States (+0.7 to 62.6), and Sweden (+0.5 to 61.5) continue to sit atop the confidence ratings. This month, Turkey (+1.7 to 39.6) and Argentina (-5.6 to 36.9) report in as the two countries to score below 40. Over the past three months, Italy has seen the greatest increase in optimism, with a three-month increase of 4.5 points to a score of 45.4. Mexico (+3.5 to 50.5), China, Poland (+2.0 to 53.0), and Turkey report the other four significant increases of 1.5 points or more. Just three countries see a significant decrease: Argentina, South Korea (-4.9 to 42.8), and South Africa (-1.6 to 41.5).
The Jobs Index shows a promising increase of 0.8 points to 59.3. Nine countries show a significant increase this month compared with just two seeing a decrease. Argentina sees the biggest fall: 4.1 points to 42.7. Hungary follows with a 2.7-point decrease to 56.7. Among the nine countries that see an increase, Italy (+4.4 to 56.1), Germany (+3.3 to 73.6), and Great Britain (+3.2 to 67.9) report the top three jumps. Brazil (+0.3 to 35.0) and Argentina score the lowest values while Sweden (+2.7 to 75.2), the United States (+3.0 to 74.5), and Germany finish the month as the top three index leaders.
Counterbalancing the optimistic increase in the Jobs Index, the Expectations Index shows a 0.9-point drop to 58.3, following a trend seen in last month’s 0.9-point decrease. Mexico, as was the case last month, continues to express high levels of optimism after a three-month index increase of 6.7 points to 66.5. The only other country to show a significant increase in their Expectations score is Italy (+2.7 to 57.0). On the other hand, nine countries see a significant decrease. South Korea (-7.5 to 51.1), Argentina (-5.2 to 51.6), and South Africa (-4.1 to 51.2) are this month’s biggest fallers. China (+0.4 to 73.9) and India (+1.4 to 70.7) remain the highest scorers while Turkey (0.0 to 46.9), Russia (-3.8 to 49.5), and France (-1.9 to 49.6) report the three lowest values.
Despite another three-month drop in the Expectations Index, the Investment Index manages to stay stable this month, increasing by just 0.1 points to 43.9. Argentina (-7.0 to 30.2) again shows a significant decrease, as does South Korea (-5.3 to 32.9). China continues its upward investment trend with the greatest increase of 5.4 points to 75.2. Italy (+5.2 to 36.2) follows closely behind while Mexico (+3.0 to 47.8) comes in a distant third. China’s Investment index remains the highest by far with India (+0.5 to 66.5), Saudi Arabia (+0.5 to 58.2), and the United States (-0.6 to 55.4) following as the countries reporting an index value above 55. Japan (-0.9 to 28.7) shows another low Investment Index value, as do Argentina, France (+0.5 to 32.6), and South Korea.
