Malaysia ranks 28th globally in consumer confidence

Nearly half also feel the same about their state of personal finances in the coming year (48% versus 40%) despite sluggish economic environments. 

“A year after the implementation of the GST, consumers have recovered spending in most essential food and non-food categories. Additionally, the Malaysia Government’s recent measures to reduce the mandatory 11% contribution in the retirement Employee Provident Fund (EPF) by 3% combined with a minimum-wage increase should contribute to more consumer spending power,” Hall noted.

In South-East Asia, consumers continued to remain confident in Q2, with four out of the six countries polled in the region scoring above 100.

The four are the Philippines (132 points, up 13 points from the first quarter), Indonesia (119, +2), Vietnam (107, -2) and Thailand (101 pp, -4). The first three countries made it to list of the the world’s top 10 most confident countries while Thailand settled for 12th place.

Singapore’s consumer confidence level held steady at 88 points, and the republic is ranked 25th overall.

The average global consumer confidence was 98, unchanged from the preceding quarter.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions -- conducted online -- measures consumer confidence, perceptions of local job prospects, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents with Internet access in 63 countries. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

Within a country, period-to-period movements of seven points or more are considered statistically significant. 

South-East Asian consumers continue to lead globally when it comes to saving intentions.

Consumers in Vietnam are the world’s most avid savers (76%) followed by Indonesia (70%, 3rd), Philippines (65%, 6th), Malaysia and Singapore (63%, 8th, respectively) and Thailand (62%, 10th).

The global average of consumers depositing spare cash into savings was 52% (up 1% from the last quarter).