Consumer confidence a mixed bag, survey says
Bermuda’s lower income households have the least confidence in the island’s economy since consumer confidence tracking began 25 years ago.
A new survey has determined that non-Bermudian confidence is up over the past year while Bermudians in general have not changed.
After years of inflation and rising prices, Bermudians have seen the Consumer Price Index (inflation) slowly declining from a high of over 5 per cent in September 2022.
As inflation has fallen, there has been a recovery of the Bermuda Consumer Confidence Index since its most recent low in Q4 2023 (69.4), up to 76.3 for quarter two of 2024, consistent with this time last year, says Narrative Research Bermuda.
The Consumer Confidence Index was established in 1998 measuring attitudes and how people saw the state of Bermuda’s economy, residents’ own household economic situations and conditions for major purchases. The index considers account conditions and future outlooks.
When first established, the index was set at a benchmark of 100 and all subsequent reports have been measured relative to that first measure. The index has proven to be sensitive to national and international events and more generally the economic situation of the Island.
A statement from Narrative Research reflected the differing consumer confidence levels across demographics.
It said: “Residents 18-34 years and 35-54 years have greater confidence than older residents (18-34 years: 79.6; 35-54 years: 80.3; 55+ years: 70.7).
“Non-Bermudians’ confidence levels have increased substantially over the past year, while those of Bermudians are consistent (Non-Bermudians: 83.4; up 16.7 points; Bermudians: 75.1; up 0.1 points).
“In addition, those with lower-household incomes report the lowest confidence score since tracking began, while those with mid-to-higher-household incomes indicate greater confidence (L.T. $75k: 64.6; down 8.2 points; $75k - $150k: 79.7; up 5.3 points; $150k+: 87.0; up 10.5 points).
“Finally, residents in Pembroke/Devonshire have the highest confidence level, across parishes (Pembroke/Devonshire: 81.9; up 7.1 points; Sandys/Southampton: 75.3; up 4.5 points; Warwick/Paget: 74.5; up 1.5 points; Hamilton/Smith’s/St George’s: 74.4; down 2.7 points).
“These results are part of Narrative Research Bermuda’s Bermuda Omnibus® Survey conducted with a random sample of 400 adult residents of Bermuda. The results above are not commissioned by a third party, and were collected independently by Narrative Research Bermuda.
“A sample size of 400 is a well-recognised market research industry standard and provides a representative sampling of Islanders.
“The survey was conducted by phone between May 30 and June 12, 2024. A sample size of 400 surveys collected by telephone allows for a statistical margin of error to within ± 4.9 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.”
Narrative Research began tracking consumer confidence using their proprietary Bermuda Omnibus Survey.
The Bermuda Omnibus Survey© is a quarterly, non-partisan, survey conducted by telephone that gives insight into political, economic, social trends, and much more. Telephone interviewing is supervised and meets the highest quality standards established for the market research industry, the company said.
The next iteration of the survey will be in field starting approximately August 28 and will continue for about two weeks.
All telephone calling is conducted using a system of random-digit dialling of possible phone numbers in Bermuda and they do not keep a database of known numbers.
• For more on Consumer Confidence Levels in Bermuda, see Related Media
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