Chinese consumers most optimistic in Asia-Pacific region
Chinese consumers most optimistic in Asia-Pacific region
Agence France-Presse, Singapore
Consumers in China have the most optimistic economic outlook in the Asia-Pacific region, with confidence also strong in Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand, according to a survey released Wednesday.
Less optimism prevails in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, MasterCard International said in its latest six- monthly survey. Consumers were asked about the outlook for the next six months for employment, economy, regular income, the stock market and quality of life.
"China continues to be the star performer with the highest consumer confidence scores across Asia/Pacific. The latest score, 84.4, registers an increase from last period's index of 73.6," MasterCard said in a statement.
"Within China, Shanghai respondents are the most hopeful today, although those in Beijing and Guangzhou appear to be almost as positive," it said.
Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand continue to reflect positive consumer sentiment, it said.
"The survey's latest results indicate that there is not one specific discernible trend across the region," said MasterCard senior vice president Stuart McDonald.
"It's interesting that while China continues to experience such high consumer confidence levels, nearby in Hong Kong they are struggling with less optimism these days.
"And while Thailand and Malaysia continue to perform quite well, other parts of Southeast Asia are less buoyant," he said.
Employment prospects seem to be a primary concern amonst the 5,479 consumers surveyed in 13 regional economies, he said.
Hong Kong and India recorded improvements in sentiment but the previously optimistic markets of Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea showed a downturn in the latest survey, MasterCard said.
Hong Kong's index rebounded to 21.3 from 13.9, while India's score surged to 62.1 from 42.6.
Consumer sentiment in Australia appears to be growing cautious, with the latest index of 44.6 reversed a growing trend in four previous MasterCard surveys.
Taiwan's score of 38.9 fell from 58.9 in the last survey in June, while Japan registered the lowest index level of 15.
Singapore saw its score drop more than 20 notches to 31.4 from 56.1, with consumers feeling most pessimistic about the stock market and employment.
Korean consumer confidence suffered a major decline to 39.2 from 76.5 six months earlier.
The other scores are Indonesia, down to 56.0 from 67.7, Malaysia, 73.0, New Zealand down to 65.8 from 75.2, Philippines down to 33.6 from 39.7 and Thailand down to 70.3 from 73.9.