Rising cost of living biggest concern for Saudis

The rising cost of living is the single biggest issue impacting Saudi consumers’ lifestyle according to a new survey, with unemployment coming a distant second.

Out of 1,002 Saudi nationals polled by international market research firm TNS, 53 percent said they thought inflation would impact their lifestyle negatively this year, while 19 percent said they were worried about unemployment.

Overall, Saudis were more optimistic about their overall financial situation and the state of their local economy, according to a separate TNS study on the financial crisis based on interviews with 300 people.

Only seven percent of the kingdom’s population believes their financial situation will deteriorate over the next six months, compared with 43 percent of Britons and 36 percent of Americans.

Eighteen percent said they thought the local economy would get worse, compared with 65 percent of Britons and 52 percent of Americans.

“The consumer sentiment is still positive compared to the UAE and particularly compared to expat Arabs and Asians in the UAE,” said Satish Dave, senior director of TNS Middle East and Africa.

“They feel that things are getting bad around them but they don’t see that impacting their own spending in a big way.”

But in a sign that consumption in the kingdom may not be entirely insulated from the international financial crisis, 25 percent of respondents said they were spending less on credit cards, while 21 percent said they were selling financial products that do not seem secure.

In the consumer lifestyle survey, only six percent were concerned about the quality of their children’s education.

Job security was not a major cause of concern for Saudis, with only two percent mentioning the prospect of losing their jobs as a possible threat to their lifestyle.

The only issue garnering less interest was maintaining Arab identity, which only concerned one percent of respondents.

More than 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s population is estimated to be under 18 years old, which will lead to a 112 percent increase in the total workforce over the next five years. At the moment, 83 percent of all jobs in the private sector are held by foreigners.

The Saudi government has invested heavily in education but private sector employers complain that the standards of vocational training remain low due to a lack of independent oversight.

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