Cautious Rise in New Zealanders' Economic Confidence

Cautious Rise in New Zealanders' Economic Confidence

New Zealand Consumer Confidence Measures at 93, Up Three Points from Q1 2013;

Nearly Half of Kiwis Believe the Country is out of a Recession

Auckland, New Zealand (24 July 2013) – New Zealand consumer confidence indexed at 93 in the first in the second quarter of 2013, increasing three points, according to Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. The measure of 93 is two points higher than New Zealand’s index in Q2 2012.

Rob Clark, managing director, Nielsen New Zealand, said: “Kiwis are more optimistic about the economy, nearly half of New Zealanders believe we are out of a recession compared to a year ago when under a third (29%) thought this was the case. However, caution remains over job prospects, personal finances and spending intentions. ”

Clark adds, “We are also seeing some seasonal shifts in attitudes, increasing utility bills is now top of major concerns for the next six months, jumping nine percentage points in the last quarter.”

In the latest round of the survey, conducted between May 13 and May 31, 2013, New Zealand consumer confidence remained behind Australia, where consumer confidence increased by five index points to 98. New Zealand was slightly behind the United States (96) and the global average (94) but ahead of the UK which indexed at 79. Confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

Consumer confidence improvements were reported in Asia-Pacific (+2 to 105), North America (+2 to 96), and Middle East/Africa (+6 to 91), compared to the previous quarter. Europe’s consumer confidence index held steady at 71 for three consecutive quarters, and Latin America’s confidence declined one index point to 93 in Q2.

Consumer confidence increased in 45 percent of markets measured by Nielsen, compared to 60 percent in the previous quarter. Indonesia (124) reported the highest consumer confidence index for the second consecutive quarter with a two point increase from Q1 2013. Portugal reported the lowest index of 33. Pakistan reported the biggest quarterly index increase of 11 points to a score of 98. Israel’s drop of eight index points was the biggest quarterly decline.
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