Filipino consumers have become less confident about the country’s economic prospects over the next year and are likely to spend less as a result, a recent international survey showed.

The survey, conducted by The Nielsen Co., also revealed that more Filipinos are worried about their job security for the next 12 months.

At a news briefing, Nielsen managing director Benedicto Cid Jr. said the Philippines’ consumer confidence rating fell to 99 points, down eight points since the previous survey, done in the second half of 2007.

“This is the first drop in consumer confidence after continuously improving” since the second half of 2005, he said.

The results for the Philippines mirrored findings in 51 other countries, where sentiments also dimmed broadly, due mainly to adverse economic developments in the United States and Europe.

A total of 28,253 respondents participated in the survey, including 523 from the Philippines, about half of whom are in the 18-30 age bracket.

The survey, done semi-annually and with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points, was conducted from April 21 to May 6, 2008.

Among the Filipino respondents, 52 percent were optimistic about their job prospects over the next 12 months, down 13 percentage points from six months earlier.

Filipinos surveyed were also less optimistic about their personal finances going forward. According to the findings, 66 percent were optimistic—down eight percentage points from late last year.

Cid said the reduced confidence prompted many Filipinos—including those in the middle class—to postpone big-ticket purchases and nonessential spending.

The survey showed only 31 percent of the Filipino respondents were planning large outlays over the next 12 months, down eight percentage points from late last year.

“There seems to be a broad correlation between consumer confidence and GDP [gross domestic product] growth,” Cid said.

He said the correlation was not “airtight” but the survey results showed a lag of about six months before consumer confidence reacts to hard economic data. “This is because there are other factors that are not captured here, like inflation and politics,” he said.

On the upside, Cid pointed to survey results that showed Filipinos continued to lead other nationalities in saving spare cash—no matter how small—after settling other living expenses.

The survey also revealed that the state of the economy was not the main concern of Filipinos over the next year.

“Most are concerned about achieving the proper work/life balance, and about job security,” Cid said. Concerns about the economy “come in only third,” he said. Edited by INQUIRER.net