Vietnam remains the fourth most optimistic country in the world.
According to a press release from the market research company Nielsen, Vietnam's Consumer Confidence's Index in the first quarter of 2018 was 124, which marks a nine-point increase from the last quarter of 2017. The country's current confidence score is also Vietnam's highest within the last decade.
“In general, countries in South East Asia region normally have [a] higher confidence level than those in more [developed] regions," said Nielsen Vietnam's Managing Director Nguyen Huong Quynh, adding that "the good momentum of [economic] growth across industries combining with the positive signals of foreign investment flows, increasing household income and growth-oriented government policies could translate into optimism of consumers."
The report also highlights that although 73% of the Vietnamese consumers from the study put their extra money into savings, they are not hesitant to spend money on more expensive items. New clothes and holidays are the two most popular expenditures.
Vietnamese are spending more on new technology with 46% of respondents saying they spend extra money on tech products compared with 40% last quarter. The top five concerns haven't changed much from previous quarters, except for a slight increase in concerns about health and the state of the economy. On the other hand, Vietnamese people are less concerned about job security, work/life balance and their parent's welfare.
[Photo via Tuoi Tre]