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Dubai: The UAE ranked fifth-highest in the world in a recent global consumer confidence survey, while many consumers around the world think that their countries are in recession.
UAE residents are the world's fifth most confident about the economic prospects in the next 12 months, according to the latest Nielsen global Online Consumer Confidence and Opinion Survey.
Piyush Mathur, regional managing director of research organisation The Nielsen Company, said the UAE's consumer confidence index has actually dropped two points from 113 in the second half of 2007 to 111 in the second half of this year.
Despite the fall, Mathur said the country's confidence level is something to be happy about because the decline is only minimal and the UAE is on the top five among the 51 countries surveyed, jumping from ninth position in the last survey.
Optimism levels in Norway, India and Denmark, which are higher than the UAE on the list, have dropped by 6, 11 and 4 points respectively, which makes the country's decline the lowest among the top five. Indonesia's index remains at 120, putting it level with Denmark, the report showed.
"It's not a bad sign given the global scenario. It has a lot to do with relativity, how other countries are doing. If the other countries are doing extremely well, then that's a warning. But here, we see 39 countries dropping. While the UAE's confidence has declined, it's a very small margin," Mathur told Gulf News.
Mathur said the job prospects in the UAE, the state of personal finances and people's willingness to spend are rising, so the negative aspects, such as rising food, housing and fuel costs, have been dampened.
Mathur noted that in the US, about 260,000 jobs were lost in the first four months of the year, but in the UAE, about 640,000 jobs were added during the same period.
Job prospects also appear bleak in other countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore, he added. Nielsen's consumer confidence survey was conducted in April 2008 among 28,253 internet users in 51 markets.
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