Stingy Singaporeans to cut spending this year

Seven out of ten say they will cut spending, half of them see dim job prospects.

Singaporeans were slightly less confident in the second quarter of 2012, according to the latest findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen’s quarterly report showed that consumer confidence in Singapore declined two index points to 94 points in the second quarter of 2012 after a short-lived uptick in the first quarter.

The report also revealed a 2-point increase in the number of consumers who feel their future job prospects would not be good (46%) and a 6-point increase in the number of consumers who are likely to hold back on spending (68%).

While consumer confidence levels declined across the world in the second quarter of 2012, consumers in Asia remain optimistic with an average of 95 points compared to their global counterparts (global average is 91 points). Globally, Singapore ranks in 17th position in terms of consumer confidence, together with Switzerland, Canada and Chile.

A number of Asian markets ranked amongst the most confident countries globally, including Indonesia (1st) which had the world’s most confident consumers, Philippines (3rd) and Malaysia (5th). At the other end of the spectrum, Asia’s least confident countries, Japan and South Korea, were also amongst the lowest globally, together with Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Hungary.

“The slight pullback in consumer confidence in Singapore is not a surprise given the onslaught of negative news about the global economy and closer to home, uncertainties with the slow-down in China and India. Consumers are signaling a continuing conservatism when it comes to spending and managing their expenses. We expect them to adopt various coping strategies such as value-seeking, buying on promotions and delaying discretionary spending to keep expenses reined in amidst inflationary pressures and worries about the economy,” said Joan Koh, Managing Director, Nielsen Singapore and Malaysia.

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.