Consumer confidence dips in Q1: Nielsen

Consumer confidence in the first quarter dipped one point from a quarter ago with sentiment about employment and personal finance both lowered, a latest study shows.

The Chinese Consumer Confidence index stood at 106 in the first quarter this year, down from that of 111 points in the same period a year ago, Nielsen China said in a research report today.

Despite dip in sentiment about employment and personal finance, the willingness to spend showed an overall increase of 2 points to 44 percent.

“Chinese consumers’ willingness to spend is seeing a recovery especially in lower tier cities and the increasing disposable income, the low inflation level as well as the booming e-commerce development all suggest huge growth potential for consumer spending,” Oliver Rust, Managing Director of Nielsen China, said in a statement.

Following a historic high of 118 points in the fourth quarter last year, consumer confidence index in first tier cities dropped five points to 113 points this quarter, and Nielsen suggested these are just normal fluctuations.

The survey covers a total of 3,500 respondents in China. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicates degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively.

The immediate spending intention in the following 12-month period jumped 8 points to 50 percent among tier four cities’ consumers, as these smaller cities are leading the momentum of overall consumer goods growth in China.