Consumer confidence in Saudi and UAE economy at a 12-month high

Future employment prospects and increased oil prices contributed to positive outlook

According to the latest research by consumer intelligence company D/A, confidence in the Saudi Arabian economy is at 91%. 

Increases in oil prices and a series of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) issued for the country’s key infrastructure projects have contributed to the rise in confidence.

Consumer confidence in the UAE economy and private business sector also continues to rise reaching a 12-month high with positive sentiment for private business at 76%.

The UAE’s uptick was propelled by the trickle-down effect of higher oil prices and tourism activity driven by Expo 2020 Dubai

Explaining the findings, D/A managing partner Paul Kelly said: “Despite overall consumer confidence remaining relatively flat in Saudi Arabia, we have seen positivity surrounding the economy, which has resulted in a 12-month high in January. Although the strength of economic sentiment has yet to filter down to other sectors, the Saudi Arabian workforce is still confident about their future employment prospects.

“Positive sentiment toward business and economy in the UAE has been buoyed by some of the highest hotel occupancy rates in the world, substantial economic investment and the adept handling of global crises. Business confidence increased more than 2%, and the economic confidence increased by 0.5% in January 2022.” 

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From a GCC-wide perspective, January 2022 saw net consumer confidence across the Gulf Coast countries drop to 57% from December 2021’s 59%. Contributing to this was an overall drop in business confidence, while confidence in employment has declined from December’s 74% to 72% and, most significantly, regional economic confidence also regressed, from 64% in December to 61% in January. These trends may be attributed to residual effects of Covid-19.

Looking ahead, this trend is expected to continue in some markets due to the newly announced plans to establish a corporate tax regime in the UAE

Sila, developed by D/A, is an Arabic-language AI tool designed to gain insight and create strategies that drive brand growth across the Middle East and Northern Africa. As a regional expert in Arabic consumer intelligence, D/A combines their technology with strategy and analysis to bring human value to big data. D/A also uses natural language processing models in 21 Arabic dialects to understand sentiment and emotion without translating content first. This enables high accuracy and greater insight into the region.

 For more information, visit www.d-a.co/csi