Consumer Confidence among Egyptians reached 103 points in Q2 2012, up 6 points from last quarter, which is the highest increase in MENAP. Consumer Confidence is the highest since the survey was established in 2005 – placing Egypt among the group of countries most optimistic about their future. Global consumer confidence declined three index points to 91 in Q2 2012, and is up two index points from the same period the previous year (Q2 2011), according to global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. In the latest round of the survey, conducted between May 4 and May 21, 2012, overall confidence rose in 41 percent of global markets measured by Nielsen, compared to a 68 percent increase in the previous quarter. Q2 2012 confidence declined in 26 of 56 markets, increased in 23 and remained flat in seven. “Consumers are clearly proceeding with caution in relation to their spending intentions," said Dr.VenkateshBala, chief economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. “Consumer confidence lost momentum in the second quarter as global events, including a worsening Euro zone crisis coupled with slowing growth rates in China and India, impacted financial markets and consumer sentiment in many parts of the world. As renewed volatility entered global markets, consumers reacted by reining in spending and consumption intentions." The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 28,000 Internet consumers in 56 countries. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism. The Nielsen survey revealed that 61 percent of online consumers in Egypt considered their local job prospects in the coming 12 months as good or excellent – an increase of 7% percent over last quarter. As for the state of their personal finances over the coming 12 months, it went up 5 percentage points among Egyptians to reach 63 percent. This ranks Egypt as the 10th most optimistic country globally about job prospects and also about the state of personal finances. According to Nielsen's survey, 47 percent of global respondents indicated their local job prospects were “good" or “excellent", down one percentage point from the previous quarter and up three percentage points from the previous year. More than half (53%) of global online consumers considered their personal finances over the next twelve months to be “good" or “excellent", down two percentage points from Q1 2012 and up four percentage points from Q2 2011 (49%). Egypt is ranked 9th among the global top 10 countries that agree that their country is in an economic recession at the moment (86%). However, Egypt tops the list of the global top 10 countries to think their country will be out of the economic recession in the coming 12 months. More than half the respondents (60%) believe that Egypt will be out of the recession within the year. “The survey was carried out just before the elections when there was a lot of hope and expectations. Change always carries hope. The hope that a new regime will fulfill the peoples' expectations and dreams resulted in Egyptians being the most optimistic people about their future," said Ram Mohan Rao, Managing Director Nielsen Egypt.
