Econ
Vietnam’s consumer confidence among world’s top 10 countries
Vietnamese consumer confidence finished last year on a high note, which helped Vietnam continue to be ranked as the seventh most optimistic country in the world.
According to the latest issue of the Conference Board Global Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted in collaboration with Nielsen, Vietnam’s consumer confidence remained high last year though the index core in Q4 2017 declined by 1 point against the previous quarter to 115 points.
“Overall, we continue to see a stably high confidence level among Vietnamese consumers throughout 2017,” said Nguyen Huong Quynh, Managing Director, Nielsen Vietnam.
According to Huong, the good momentum of economy growth across industries combining with the positive signals of foreign investment flows, increasing household income and growth oriented government policies could translate into optimism of Vietnamese consumers.
Besides, she said, the consistent trend could be influenced by the build-up and positive sentiment towards the personal finance status as well as immediate spending intentions during the past years.
Specifically, consistent with many past quarters, after covering essential living expenses, Vietnamese consumers were eager to spend on big ticket items to enhance quality of life in Q4 2017. Nearly half of consumers were willing to spend their spare cash on buying new clothes (49 per cent) and to take holidays (44 per cent). Around two in five spent on new technology products (40 per cent), out-of-home entertainment (41 per cent), and home improvements (42 per cent).
According to Huong, emerging markets like those in Southeast Asia have been noticed as an important region for long-term growth in consumer-facing businesses for quite some time now.
“This is likely due to the many advantages the group can bring, such as young and fast-growing populations coupled with rapid and consistent economic growth. And high levels of consumer confidence could be one of these advantages too,” she said.
However, Vietnamese consumers still had a strong affinity for saving. Close to three-quarters (72 per cent) put their spare cash into savings (compared to 66 per cent in the previous quarter). The report also revealed that saving was an integral part of Southeast Asian consumers, with 66 per cent of respondents putting their spare cash into savings.
In this quarter, the top five concerns among Vietnamese consumers remained the same as in the previous quarter. Job security continued to top the list (46 per cent), followed by health (40 per cent), work/life balance (27 per cent), the economy (21 per cent) and their parents’ welfare and happiness (19 per cent).
“It is observed that there was a little movement in the concern for job security and state of economy. These concerns slightly strengthened in the last quarter of 2017, which could make consumers cautious about their spending habits and thus motivate them to curb their daily expenses,” Huong said.
Besides, she noted, as consumers want to thrive for a better life and have high aspirations of building a nest for their children’s future, owning a house or high-tech products, and having more frequent local or overseas holidays, the feeling of cautiousness in spending is likely to continue, which could make them save more and prioritize their spending.
Confidence scores in 2017 were consistently high in Southeast Asia region with three out of six countries reaching the highest confidence score in the world - Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. In spite of declining 1 point compared to the previous quarter to 119 points in the last quarter of 2017, confidence level in Southeast Asia is currently higher than other regions.
Philippines became the most confident country globally with 131 points (unchanged from the last quarter) while Indonesia continued to rank third with a score of 125 points (decreased 2 points).
Nearly half of local consumers were willing to spend their spare cash on buying new clothes
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According to Huong, the good momentum of economy growth across industries combining with the positive signals of foreign investment flows, increasing household income and growth oriented government policies could translate into optimism of Vietnamese consumers.
Besides, she said, the consistent trend could be influenced by the build-up and positive sentiment towards the personal finance status as well as immediate spending intentions during the past years.
Specifically, consistent with many past quarters, after covering essential living expenses, Vietnamese consumers were eager to spend on big ticket items to enhance quality of life in Q4 2017. Nearly half of consumers were willing to spend their spare cash on buying new clothes (49 per cent) and to take holidays (44 per cent). Around two in five spent on new technology products (40 per cent), out-of-home entertainment (41 per cent), and home improvements (42 per cent).
According to Huong, emerging markets like those in Southeast Asia have been noticed as an important region for long-term growth in consumer-facing businesses for quite some time now.
“This is likely due to the many advantages the group can bring, such as young and fast-growing populations coupled with rapid and consistent economic growth. And high levels of consumer confidence could be one of these advantages too,” she said.
However, Vietnamese consumers still had a strong affinity for saving. Close to three-quarters (72 per cent) put their spare cash into savings (compared to 66 per cent in the previous quarter). The report also revealed that saving was an integral part of Southeast Asian consumers, with 66 per cent of respondents putting their spare cash into savings.
In this quarter, the top five concerns among Vietnamese consumers remained the same as in the previous quarter. Job security continued to top the list (46 per cent), followed by health (40 per cent), work/life balance (27 per cent), the economy (21 per cent) and their parents’ welfare and happiness (19 per cent).
“It is observed that there was a little movement in the concern for job security and state of economy. These concerns slightly strengthened in the last quarter of 2017, which could make consumers cautious about their spending habits and thus motivate them to curb their daily expenses,” Huong said.
Besides, she noted, as consumers want to thrive for a better life and have high aspirations of building a nest for their children’s future, owning a house or high-tech products, and having more frequent local or overseas holidays, the feeling of cautiousness in spending is likely to continue, which could make them save more and prioritize their spending.
Confidence scores in 2017 were consistently high in Southeast Asia region with three out of six countries reaching the highest confidence score in the world - Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. In spite of declining 1 point compared to the previous quarter to 119 points in the last quarter of 2017, confidence level in Southeast Asia is currently higher than other regions.
Philippines became the most confident country globally with 131 points (unchanged from the last quarter) while Indonesia continued to rank third with a score of 125 points (decreased 2 points).
