CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
Levels of consumer confidence are critical to the FMCG market. Confidence has benefited from governments and central banks around the world engaging in various economic support programmes since the 2008 financial crisis.But in 2014 the major trend in global consumption patterns was a marked slowdown, evidenced by a fall in growth rates in emerging economies, notably China, which is now growing at its slowest rate for five years, and Brazil, which is in recession. Inflation and a rising cost of living have squeezed consumers in emerging markets, while economies only narrowly missed falling back into recession in Europe. A small number of major markets, such
as the US and UK, saw better levels of economic activity but the outlook for consumer confidence remains weak. This broad economic trend was reflected in our markets, which grew at around 2.5%.