Hong Kong continues to spend despite pessimism: survey

While the UK was shown to have the most pronounced negative outlook globally, with 75 per cent of respondents in agreement that the economy is set to worsen, a notable 61 per cent took the same view in Hong Kong. In addition, when asked to reflect on the path of the national economy over the coming twelve months, 74 per cent of participants in the SAR predicted that the situation would worsen.

In terms of concerns, 14 per cent of Hong Kongers listed forfeiting luxury as a major concern. Over 50 per cent stated that despite misgivings over their financial status, they were unable to refrain from spending at the same level as during a positive economic climate. This stood in comparison to a quarter of Singaporeans who expressed the same compulsion to spend.

While 20 per cent of Malaysians expressed no concern other than the possibility of losing their job, 16 per cent of Taiwanese rated losing money from investments as their second biggest fear after becoming unemployed.

In a statement, Synovate’s Hong Kong managing director, Brendan Shair, attributed the findings to Hong Kong’s perception of luxury as a necessity. Shair added that although pessimistic, the majority of the Hong Kong population had yet to experience a direct impact from the global downturn and as a result were inclined to continue spending “as per usual”.

Meanwhile, 41 per cent of Hong Kongers and 40 per cent of Malaysians indicated that they found the economy boring and did not pay attention to its developments.

The survey was conducted across 18 global markets, with around 12,000 participants.