45% of UAE consumers see end of downturn in 2010

A total of 45 percent of consumers who took part in an international survey are confident the country will emerge from the recession in the next 12 months.

The figure, which comes from the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence report for the second quarter released on Monday, is an increase of 13 percent, compared to a previous survey conducted in March.

This shows consumer confidence is returning to the region, said Piyush Mathur, Nielsen’s regional managing director, Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

The UAE now ranks as the seventh most optimistic country surveyed the firm said, despite 87 percent of respondents said the UAE was in a recession.

“This is a major turning point for the UAE. Consumer confidence reached a record low in March but, three months later, UAE consumers are starting to embrace the idea of recovery,” Mathur said.

“This recession hit globally at a rapid pace, and it appears that we will emerge from it at the same pace. Given the speed of change, Nielsen is now tracking the index quarterly to identify early signs of recovery.”

The survey, which polled 14,029 online consumers in 28 countries in June, found that overall 71 percent of respondents said their country was in recession – down from 77 percent in March.

Globally job security and the economy remained consumers’ top concerns.

In the UAE, 34 percent of consumers said job security was their top concern, followed by the state of the economy at 17 percent.

“Consumers in the UAE are still concerned about job security and the state of the economy and have changed their spending habits accordingly,” said Mathur. “They are still controlling discretionary spends, especially on out-of-home entertainment, telephone expenses and vacations and taking short breaks.”

India showed the highest increase in consumer confidence, while Germany was the only country to register a decline in confidence.

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