HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamranked fourth in the world in its Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) of 122percentage points (pp) in the final quarter of last year, according to theConference Board Global Consumer Confidence Survey conducted in collaborationwith Nielsen, a global measurement company.

The top three countries were India, thePhilippines and Indonesia, whose scores were 133, 131 and 127, respectively. Compared to the third quarter, Vietnam’s CCIscore fell by 7 points.

However, with a steady uptrend CCI scorethroughout the year, Vietnam’s overall confidence level as the year 2018concluded was still high above the global and regional average of 107 pp and117 pp, respectively.

Globally and regionally, many countriesexperienced similar CCI downtrends due to uncertainties caused by rising costsand political challenges.

Within Southeast Asia, Malaysia had the highestCCI score loss in the fourth quarter, down 9 pp compared to the Q3, finishingthe year with 118 points.

In the fourth quarter, Vietnamese consumerscontinued to rank job security (43 percent) and health (43 percent) as theirtop two key concerns, while 27 percent pointed to work-life-balance as thethird most cared-about matter.

For the quarter, the nation’s economy moved downone spot on the key concerns list with only 20 percent of respondentsindicating that it was a concern (compared to 27 percent respondents in thethird quarter).

This observation corresponded with an improvedsentiment about Vietnam’s economic status: only 36 percent believed the countrywas in a recession compared to 41 percent in the third quarter.

Vietnamese were less positive about their jobprospects and personal finances.

Around three-quarter of people believed theywould have good or excellent job prospects (75 percent) or would be in a goodor excellent financial state in the next 12 months (76 percent).

Other key areas of attention of Vietnameseconsumers were their family members: they  reported to be more attentiveabout parents’ welfare and happiness (19 percent) and children’s educationand/or welfare (8 percent).

“With inflation well-managed throughout theyear, which led to more stable and predictable living costs, we can see thatfood prices or utilities bills are no longer consumers’ worrisome points inthis quarter,” said Nguyen Huong Quynh, managing director of Nielsen Vietnam.

“With this extra peace of mind, they can nowdivert their care to more important matters such as their children’s educationand future,” Quynh said.

Vietnam continued to place first in Asia Pacificin the fourth quarter for having the region’s most avid savers (78 percent),followed by Hong Kong (71 percent), India (68 percent) and Thailand (67 percent).

Notably, even with considerable increasedintention for saving, Vietnamese’s willingness to spend on big-ticket itemssuch as new clothes, holidays and out-of-home entertainment remained the sameor even increased slightly.

In compensation, they were less likely to spendon new tech products, home improvements or decor, and medical insurancepremiums.

The survey polled more than 32,000 onlineconsumers in 64 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, theMiddle East/Africa and North America.-VNS/VNA