People are “not super optimistic” about Bermuda’s economy.

This came from Margaret Chapman, chief operating officer of Narrative Research, the firm that conducts the Bermuda Omnibus survey. The research is done quarterly for the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce.

Out of 400 respondents, half said their greatest concerns were around the economy, in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“Back in 2006, hardly anyone said the economy was their greatest concern,” Ms Chapman said. “Back then the greatest worry was housing. Now, we are at 50 per cent of the population talking about the cost of living and inflation. Only 6 per cent said housing was their greatest concern.”

Eight per cent of those surveyed believed Bermuda’s economy was better off in 2023 compared with the previous year.

“Typically, this answer is based on day-to-day interactions with things such as seeing storefronts closed, whether they know someone who has lost a job or whether they are seeing the cost of living going up,” Ms Chapman said.

Narrative Research also asked people if they were better off in 2023 compared to 2022. Forty-one per cent said they were worse off, and 45 per cent said they were the same.

Ms Chapman said in 2022, there were many people who said they were worse off, so reporting things were the same was not necessarily a good thing.

“Sometimes things are just carrying on the same way in a negative light,” Ms Chapman said.

The survey also looked at consumer confidence by breaking responders into three income brackets: those who earn less than $75,000 a year, those who make $75,000 to $150,000 a year, and those with income over $150,000 annually.

In previous years, people in the highest income bracket had higher levels of consumer confidence. The poll found that to be changing.

“We are seeing a decline in consumer confidence, regardless of income,” Ms Chapman said. “Of course, those earning $150,000 or more have a higher level of confidence, but all three categories are starting to converge.”

Consumer confidence is “extraordinarily” reactive to what is going on in the local and global market, she said.

“From 2013 until 2018, we saw really positive consumer confidence,” she said. “That generally correlates with people taking on debt or spending with a little more freedom.”

When it is down, however, people tend to be more conservative in their spending, and more cautious about taking on personal debt.

This year, there were also differences by gender, with women feeling less consumer confidence than men. Consumer confidence of people ages 18 to 34 also “tumbled”.

“That is signalling to us that concern about the cost of living is widespread across the population,” Ms Chapman said.

However, she said Bermuda is not alone; consumer confidence is down everywhere including Atlantic Canada.

“It is affected by things like uncertainty and global conflict,” she said. “Inflation is not just impacting Bermuda, of course, it is affecting all global markets. So it is not unique that Bermuda has these kinds of low consumer confidence numbers. It is very much in line with what we are seeing globally.”

The survey also asked people how they felt politically. Just under half of residents said Bermuda is headed in the wrong direction, with 30 per cent feeling that Bermuda was stagnant. Among those who felt Bermuda was wrongly headed, half attributed this to the economy or the cost of living. Fourteen per cent of respondents perceived Bermuda to be heading in the right direction.

Research analyst Grace Wilson said 36 per cent of those who felt Bermuda was on the wrong track, attributed their thinking to government performance, followed by national debt, immigration and residents leaving the infrastructure.

In terms of employment, the survey saw a “little bit” of a trend upwards full-time employment and a decline in part-time employment, and self-employment.

“It looks to us like there are a little bit more people returning to work,” Ms Chapman said.