52% consumers still pessimistic over 2010 - poll

MONEY MATTERS: Only eight percent of those polled by Arabian Business were more confident about prospects in 2010, compared to the previous quarter.

Consumers in the UAE are still not convinced that the worst is over following the impact of the global economic downturn, according to the results of the latest Arabian Business online poll.

More than 600 people voted in our survey which asked whether they were more confident about their prospects for 2010 than they were three months ago.

But only eight percent of respondents concurred with research published last week by Nielsen which said UAE consumers were the eighth most optimistic in the world.

The Global Consumer Confidence Index showed that the UAE's index ranking had surged during the third quarter from a score of 89 to 103, putting it eighth on the global list of 54 countries.

Job security remained the number one concern for UAE consumers although the number of people who feared losing their jobs fell from 36 percent in April to 24 percent in September, the index showed.

But our survey showed that more than 50 percent of those who voted were still pessimistic, saying they were less confident about economic conditions improving in 2010 than they were in the previous quarter.

A further 23 percent told us that their confidence levels had remained pretty flat over the past three months and they still viewed prospects next year with caution.

Another 18 percent fitted the Neilsen profile of UAE consumers, telling us that their confidence levels had risen since the previous quarter.

In the Neilsen research, consumer confidence rose in 45 out of the 52 countries compared to six months ago.

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