MasterCard Reveals High Consumer Confidence In The Middle East

The survey, conducted among 11,367 respondents between April 2012 and June 2012 in 25 countries, recorded a very optimistic score for Middle East consumer confidence, bringing the index to (83.5), significantly higher than Africa (76.1) and Asia/Pacific (57.2). The Index score is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic 100 as the most optimistic. It is based on a survey which measures consumer confidence on prevailing expectations in the market over the next six months, based on five economic indicators: Economy, Employment, Stock Market, Regular Income and Quality of Life.

	H1 2012 Current Status		Change from last half
Middle East	83.5	Very Optimistic	-2.2	Stable –
Egypt	90.7	Extremely Optimistic	2.4	Stable +
Kuwait	84.7	Very Optimistic	-3.5	Stable –
Lebanon	44.3	Neutral –	-26.2	Extreme Deterioration
Oman	91.5	Extremely Optimistic	-2.1	Stable –
Qatar	96.6	We’d love to be your preferred source for news. Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks! Add as Preferred Source Extremely Optimistic	3.0	Stable +
Saudi Arabia	90.9	Extremely Optimistic	7.0	Some Improvement
United Arab Emirates	86.0	Very Optimistic	3.8	Stable +

According to albawaba.com online sales in the Middle East are projected to top $2 billion by 2016. This eCommerce boom can be attributed to more people signing up for credit cards and an increase in home computer usage.

The usage of prepaid channels has also increased substantially, from 20 percent in February of 2011 to 70 percent in February of 2012. Muhammad Chbib, CEO of Sukar.com, Middle East’s largest online private shopping club told albawaba.com that the increased acceptance of prepaid indicates a mature online market place: “The online marketplace is mirroring the offline marketplace in its acceptance of credit card and other prepaid online channels. People in this region preferred cash over cards for a long time but once the fear of credit card scams waned and everyday usage increased, that’s when retail really took off in this region.”

Methodology

About the MasterCard Worldwide Index™ of Consumer Confidence

 The MasterCard Worldwide Index™ of Consumer Confidence survey has a 20-year track record of consumer confidence indices collected from over 200,000 interviews, unequalled both in scope and history across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence is the most comprehensive and longest running survey of its kind in the region. In June 1997, the Index revealed a decline in consumer confidence – one month prior to the devaluation of the Thai baht that triggered the regional economic crisis. In June 2003, the Index score for Employment in Hong Kong dropped to a low score of 20.0. This was subsequently reflected in Hong Kong’s unemployment rate, which peaked just before September 2003 at eight percent.