Consumer Confidence National Index Unchanged from October
This month’s global Consumer Confidence National Index matched October’s all-time high remaining at 50.5. 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 and adults aged 16-64 in the index’s 21 other countries monthly since January 2010.
Overall, ten countries experienced significant 3-month increases (≥+1.5 percentage points) in their National Index scores with Argentina (+8.3), Russia (+3.6), and China (+3.4) recording the largest gains. Conversely, Turkey (-2.2), South Korea (-2.1), and India (-1.6) saw significant 3-month decreases (≥-1.5 percentage points).
China (70.4), India (64.5), Sweden (63.2), and the U.S. (60.4) were once again atop the National Index with both China (+3.4) and India (-1.6) experiencing significant changes in opposite directions. Italy (38.0) remained the low scorer among the index’s countries and was one of two countries, along with South Africa (39.5), to record a score below 40.
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.
November’s 2017 global Jobs Index score showed a 3-month increase of 0.7 with significant increases recorded in seven countries with the largest gains experienced in Argentina (+6.0), Russia (+5.5), and Belgium (+3.2). Sweden (-5.0) and Turkey (-1.5) were the only two countries to experience significant decreases. Overall, China (70.7) replaced Germany (70.4) atop the index with both being followed closely by the U.S. (69.5) and Sweden (68.0). Brazil (31.4) once again served as an outlier being the only country to fall below an index score of 45.
The global Expectations Index score experienced a 3-month increase of 0.7 this month and, like October, holds even at 58.5. Nine countries experienced significant increases in their scores including Argentina (+5.2), Saudi Arabia (+3.6), Italy (+2.7), Poland (+2.7), Russia (+2.6), Japan (+2.2), Australia (+1.8), China (+1.6), and Hungary (+1.5). South Korea (-4.4), Turkey (-3.4), and India (-1.9) were conversely the only three countries to experience significant decreases. China’s significant increase matched with India’s significant decrease left the latter atop the index after the two were tied for the highest marks in October.
Lastly, the global Investment Index again experienced back-to-back 3-month increases of 1.7 points ticking up to 44.0. Eleven countries recorded significant increases with the largest gains witnessed in Argentina (+10.9), China (+5.4), Mexico (+4.1), and Sweden (+4.1). Three countries significantly decreased including Turkey (-2.4), South Korea (-2.0), and India (-1.6). China (69.0) replaced India (66.4) atop the index after both experienced a significant increase and decrease, respectively. Italy (28.2) and Japan (29.5) again marked the index’s lowest scores although with Japan experiencing a significant 3-month improvement of +3.4.
