Consumer Confidence National Index Down Slightly
This month’s global Consumer Confidence National Index score fell slightly from both October and November (each 50.5) to 50.1. The National Index is a measure of consumer attitudes in 24 countries regarding the current and future state of local economies, personal finances, savings, and confidence to make large investments fielded monthly by Ipsos Public Affairs.
These findings are based on data from Thomson Reuters/Ipsos' Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI) collected in an ongoing survey that has conducted 17,500 interviews of adults aged 18-64 in the United States, Canada, and Israel adults aged 16-64 in the index's 21 other countries monthly since January 2010.
The National Index was led by China (70.7), India (64.3), Sweden (63.1) and the U.S. (60.5). Both China and India experienced a significant increase (+2.4 percentage points) and decrease (-2.4 percentage points) over the last three months, respectively. Italy (37.8), Turkey (38.8), and South Africa (39.5) were the index's low scorers.
Below the primary National Index are three sub-indices, including the Jobs Index reflecting perceptions of job security, the Expectations Index reflecting economic expectations, and the Investment Index reflecting perceptions of the country's investment climate.
December's 2017 Jobs Index (57.3) showed a 3-month increase of 0.4 points from September (56.9) and is up 2.4 points from this time last year. Argentina saw the largest gains from over the last three month increasing 4.7 percentage points since September. Turkey (42.9) opposingly saw the largest decrease (-5.1 percentage points) over the same period. China continues to be atop the index at 70.8, followed closely by the U.S. (70.7) and Sweden (70.6). Brazil, likewise, continued to record the lowest index score at 32.1.
The Expectations Index increased slightly over the last three months rising from 58.0 to 58.2. Of the only two countries to achieve a score of over 70, both China (+1.0 percentage points) and India (-1.2 percentage points) saw minimal changes over the past three months. Turkey (45.2) and South Africa (47.0) once again had the lowest scores as they also had recorded in both October and November.
Lastly, the Investment Index trended similarly to the other sub-indices increasing to 43.8, led by China (69.4), India (65.3), and Sweden (59.8) who once again topped the index. However, India's (65.3) has experienced a significant decrease (-3.7 percentage points) while China (69.4) has experienced a significant increase (+3.3 percentage points) over the last three months. Argentina (47.6) and Belgium (41.7) both experienced 5 percentage point increases over the last 3 months - the largest increases of the index. Italy (28.1), Japan (29.1), and Hungary (32.0) were the low scorers for the month.
