Morocco’s Household Confidence Index (HCI) remained at 46.2 points in Q3 of 2024, up slightly from 46.1 points in the previous quarter but down from 46.5 points a year before, according to Morocco’s Forecasts and Statistics Office (HCP) report published on Wednesday.
HCP’s survey highlights significant concerns among households about their living conditions. Approximately 80.6% of respondents indicated a decline in their living standards over the past year, with only 4.8% claiming improvements.
The balance of opinions regarding past living conditions is notably negative at -75.8 points, a modest improvement from -78.2 points in the prior quarter but still concerning compared to -81.5 points a year prior.
Looking forward, 56.9% of households expect their living standards to worsen in the next year, contributing to a negative balance of -49.3 points.
Expectations about unemployment continue to weigh heavily on households. The survey reveals that 82.2% of respondents anticipate an increase in unemployment over the next year, leading to a similar negative opinion balance of -76.3 points, nearly unchanged from -76.2 points in the previous quarter and -81.9 points last year.
When it comes to making significant purchases, 78.7% of households believe it is not an opportune time to buy durable goods, resulting in a negative opinion balance of -69.7 points.
The HCP figures reflect a slight decline from -69.4 points last quarter, suggesting that economic uncertainty is influencing consumer behavior.
54.9% of households consider their income to be enough to cover expenses. However, 42.2% report going into debt or depleting their savings, while only 2.9% save any of their income. The opinion balance on present financial problems is -39.3 points, up from -40 points in the previous quarter.
Looking ahead, only 10.9% of households believe they will be able to save in the coming year, with a negative opinion balance of -78.2 points, slightly better than the previous -80.4 points.
Food prices are a significant concern, with 97.5% of respondents noting price hikes over the past year, and only 0.3% reporting decreases. The negative opinion balance regarding food prices stands at -97.2 points, with 84.4% of households expecting further increases.