JEDDAH — Consumers in Saudi Arabia have become more financially savvy over time, the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Financial Literacy revealed Monday. The Index is based on a survey conducted between April 24, 2012 and June 10, 2012 with 11,376 respondents aged 18 – 64 in 25 countries. This is the 3rd survey of Financial Literacy conducted since 2010. The survey polled consumers on three aspects of financial literacy including their basic money management skills, investment knowledge and financial planning to determine the level of basic money management skills in terms of budgeting, savings, and responsibility of credit usage. Egypt, with 69 index points, was ranked the top Middle East market with respect to the overall financial literacy index score, followed by Saudi Arabia (62 index points), the UAE (61index points) and Lebanon (61 index points). Egypt took the lead in terms of basic money management (75 percent), followed by Saudi Arabia (65 percent) and Lebanon (61 percent). Egypt also ranked first for financial planning (70 percent), followed by Lebanon (66 percent) the UAE (65 percent) and Oman (65 percent). The UAE scored highest in the investment component of the survey (57 percent), followed by Qatar (55 percent) and Lebanon (55 percent). Consumers in Saudi Arabia ranked 2nd in the Middle East with a score of 62 index points in the MasterCard Index of Financial Literacy. Respondents were aligned with the regional average on the Index's financial planning component (64 percent), and were particularly well prepared when it came to emergency savings and saving regularly. The Kingdom's financial planning scores were followed by basic money management (65 percent) and investment (54 percent). Moreover, the report showed that the Middle East's aggregate financial literacy score decreased slightly from 63 index points in 2010 to 61index points in 2012. Consumers in the Middle East scored highest in terms of knowledge about financial planning (64 percent) followed by basic money management (62 percent) and investment (54 percent). While slight disparities exist, men and women were largely on par in terms of financial literacy in the Middle East. In the UAE, men achieved marginally higher scores than women (63 vs. 59). Age does not seem to significantly affect levels of financial literacy as respondents under 30 years of age as well as those over 30 years of age showed the same level of financial literacy (61 index points) in the Middle East. The Middle East's aggregate financial literacy score decreased slightly from 63 index points in 2010 to 61 index points in 2012. Consumers in the Middle East scored highest in terms of knowledge about financial planning (64 percent) followed by basic money management (62 percent) and investment (54 percent). While slight disparities exist, men and women were largely on par in terms of financial literacy in the Middle East. In Kuwait, men achieved higher scores than women (58 vs. 57 points), though only marginally so. Age does not seem to significantly affect levels of financial literacy as respondents under 30 years of age as well as those over 30 years of age showed the same level of financial literacy (61 index points) in the Middle East. – SG/QJM
