The South Africa consumer confidence index held steady at 7 in the fourth quarter of 2018, matching the reading in the previous quarter. Still, the latest figure stays far above the depressed levels recorded in the final years of former President Zuma's regime (2015-2017) when it ranged between readings of -3 and -15. The survey indicates that "consumers are fairly optimistic that the outlook of the SA economy and their household finances will improve over the next 12 months", FNB Chief Economist Mamello Matikinca-Ngwenya said. Actually, the sharp drop in fuel prices during December and January must give some budgetary relief for consumers and simultaneously reduce the pressure to hike interest rates amid rising inflation. Consumer Confidence in South Africa averaged 1.50 Index Points from 1982 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 26 Index Points in the first quarter of 2018 and a record low of -33 Index Points in the second quarter of 1985.
Consumer Confidence in South Africa is expected to be -6.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Consumer Confidence in South Africa to stand at 18.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Consumer Confidence is projected to trend around 16.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.