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Johannesburg - Consumer confidence levels in the country have dropped as South Africans' enthusiasm about job prospects, quality of life and the stock market wane.
According to the latest Mastercard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, released on Thursday, consumer confidence continued its downward trend, showing that South Africans are less confident than they were six months and a year ago.
The survey recorded an overall decrease from 67.3 index points a year ago, to 59.8 six months ago to a current score of 58.6. This is the lowest score recorded since the survey was first conducted in 2004, and is below South Africa's historical average of 81.4 over the past three years.
Released twice a year, the index is based on a survey which measures consumer confidence on prevailing expectations in the market for the next six months based on five economic indicators: economy, employment, stock market, regular income and quality of life.
The index score is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral.
The survey was conducted from March 15 to April 12 2010.
During the past six months, three of the five indicators dereased: employment, quality of life and the stock market.
Employment and quality of life decreased marginally, scoring 53.2 and 55.8 respectively, while the most notable slide in optimism was for the stock market, which saw a significant decrease of 7.4 points, to a current score of 55.2.
Regular income, which is the most optimistic of the five metrics, increased slightly from 66.8 to 68.3, while smaller growth was seen in the economy category - from 59.0 to 60.4.
"The latest survey results are both encouraging yet slightly frustrating," said independent economic adviser Roelof Botha. "On the one hand, it is clear that heightened socio-political tension in the country, most notably through labour unrest, combined with significant job losses over the past two years, continue to place a damper on consumer confidence.
"On the other hand, however, the index has not deviated by much over the past six months and remains in positive territory, which is a reflection of the return to a new economic growth phase that is rapidly gathering momentum."
It was also not unusual for a consumer survey to deviate only slightly from the previous poll in the first stages of economic recovery, said Botha.
- I-Net Bridge
According to the latest Mastercard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, released on Thursday, consumer confidence continued its downward trend, showing that South Africans are less confident than they were six months and a year ago.
The survey recorded an overall decrease from 67.3 index points a year ago, to 59.8 six months ago to a current score of 58.6. This is the lowest score recorded since the survey was first conducted in 2004, and is below South Africa's historical average of 81.4 over the past three years.
Released twice a year, the index is based on a survey which measures consumer confidence on prevailing expectations in the market for the next six months based on five economic indicators: economy, employment, stock market, regular income and quality of life.
The index score is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral.
The survey was conducted from March 15 to April 12 2010.
During the past six months, three of the five indicators dereased: employment, quality of life and the stock market.
Employment and quality of life decreased marginally, scoring 53.2 and 55.8 respectively, while the most notable slide in optimism was for the stock market, which saw a significant decrease of 7.4 points, to a current score of 55.2.
Regular income, which is the most optimistic of the five metrics, increased slightly from 66.8 to 68.3, while smaller growth was seen in the economy category - from 59.0 to 60.4.
"The latest survey results are both encouraging yet slightly frustrating," said independent economic adviser Roelof Botha. "On the one hand, it is clear that heightened socio-political tension in the country, most notably through labour unrest, combined with significant job losses over the past two years, continue to place a damper on consumer confidence.
"On the other hand, however, the index has not deviated by much over the past six months and remains in positive territory, which is a reflection of the return to a new economic growth phase that is rapidly gathering momentum."
It was also not unusual for a consumer survey to deviate only slightly from the previous poll in the first stages of economic recovery, said Botha.
- I-Net Bridge
