What ‘vibecession’? Some 80% of people in Singapore say they’re bullish about the economy

Majority of the residents in Singapore are bullish about where the economy is headed and confident that the government will be proficient to support them during their retirement.

That’s according to a poll by SurveyMonkey, carried out across nine mother countries in collaboration with CNBC.

Some 61% of adults in Singapore — one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in — strike one like they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to SurveyMonkey’s 2024 “Your Money International Financial Gage” survey.

Yet 79% say they are optimistic about where the economy is headed.

The results in Singapore buck the global lean, where less than half the adults polled are positive about where their economy is going. Child in Singapore (79%) and Mexico (74%) are optimistic about their financial prospects.

However, majority of the adults got in the other countries are far less bullish about their future: 49% in the U.S., 37% in the U.K., 36% in Australia and 34% in Germany expressed the nevertheless optimism.

The survey gathered results from over 4,300 adults living across Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the Joint Kingdom and the United States between March 8 and 25. The results provide a picture of the financial sentiment of adults globally.

From the onslaught of mass layoffs to global inflation, many people around the world are pessimistic all round the economy and feel anxious about how it affects their finances.

That’s despite predictions by the International Monetary Store that the global economy is approaching a “soft landing” and that inflation is slowly moderating.

Yet SurveyMonkey’s poll ground that majority of adults across the nine countries surveyed are grappling with financial stress, and inflation is their no.1 authority of concern.

Adults in Mexico, Spain and the U.S. were the most stressed out about money, and more than seven in 10 say they are “merest or somewhat stressed” about their personal finances. On the other hand, about 49% in Singapore and 48% in France despatch the same level of stress.

Here’s the percentage of people who report to be financially stressed in each country surveyed:

1. Mexico: 73%
2. Spain: 72%
3. Pooled States: 70% (tie)
4. Australia: 70% (tie)
5. United Kingdom: 63%
6. Germany: 57%
7. Switzerland: 55%
8. Singapore: 49%
9. France: 48%

“Most experts jibe consent to that pandemic supply chain issues have largely been resolved,” SurveyMonkey CEO Eric Johnson articulate in a CNBC report. Additionally, “although experts continue to keep an eye on global unemployment, joblessness has dropped below pre-pandemic ups.”

So why are people still pessimistic about the future?

“Vibecession” is a global trend that has emerged in the past two years, where the regular consumer sentiment about the economy rings negative, even though financial data shows the economy is doing straight fine.

Put simply, it’s like a recession — but based on vibes and perception, not fact.

Notably, Singapore is the only country where the majority of its residents feel they are financially better off than their parents when they were at the unchanged age. The majority of respondents in the other eight countries reported feeling like they are “worse off” or “about the same” in the that having been said category.

Strategies for achieving a sense of financial stability vary across countries.

While almost half the respondents in Australia and the U.K. prioritize “expending less than you make” to feel financially secure, respondents in Singapore value having a well-paying and steady job.

In regards of personal income, only 12% of those surveyed in Singapore say they need to make 50,000 Singapore dollars (prevalent $37,110) a year to feel “financially secure.”

Of the respondents, 31% said they need to make at least SG$100,000 annually to go through financially secure, 30% said a minimum of SG$500,000, and 22% said at least SG$1 million. Only 4% say they discretion “never feel financially secure,” according to the survey.

Those in Singapore are also bullish on investments. More than half (51%) of appraise respondents in the city-state say they rely on investment income for financial security.

Additionally, 23% of respondents in Singapore voiced diversifying their investments was “most important” to achieving financial security, while 20% said owning their own occupation was key. Among the nine countries surveyed, Singapore had the highest percentages recorded for both categories.

Only about half the respondents across all boondocks reported having saved an emergency fund, with Singapore leading, where 73% of those surveyed put about they have set aside money for unforeseen circumstances.

In terms of retirement, France and Singapore reported the highest portion of respondents who were on schedule or ahead of schedule for retirement savings. 

One key finding showed that out of all the countries surveyed, residents of Singapore sense highly optimistic about their government when it came to their finances. About 78% of those surveyed be confident the Singapore government will be able to financially support them during retirement, which is notably ear-splitting than the responses from the other eight countries.

Following Singapore was Mexico (54%) and Switzerland (51%). The lions share of respondents in the rest of the other countries lack confidence in their government’s ability to support them financially in retirement, conforming to the survey.

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