UAE consumers are slightly less optimistic about the latter half of this year, compared to the first half, according to the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence.
The survey shows a small decline in the current score of 82.4 points down from 86.1 six months ago. Scores rated zero are most pessimistic and 100 are most optimistic, a statement said.
However, the credit card provider was clear to point out this figure was still a significant improvement on the index rating a year ago, which stood at 29.6.
The MasterCard survey, released twice a year, is based on five economic indicators – employment, economy, stock markets, regular income and quality of life.
According to the results, sentiment in the UAE towards employment fell to 82.4 from 86 in January. Likewise feeling about the economy (83 vs 89.4) and stock market (72.6 v 89.6) both dropped.
On the other hand, confidence in regular income increased to 86.8 from 81.9 and quality of life to 87.5 from 83.7.
“We are encouraged to see that consumer confidence in the UAE is still high and consumers continue to be optimistic about the next six months,” said Raghu Malhotra, general manager, Middle East (Gulf Countries), MasterCard Worldwide.
The latest survey was conducted between March 15 and April 12 and involved 2,400 consumers from six countries in the Middle East and Levant.
Consumer confidence is highest in Kuwait, ranked at 96.9, up from 70.9 in January, followed by Saudi Arabia, which rose from 83.2 to 85.
However, consumer confidence in Egypt, Lebanon and Qatar has declined over the period, the statement said
