International Boat Industry - December 2015

76 DECEMBER 2015 | International Boat Industry http://www.ibi-plus.com

IBI-Plus

DATA DIGEST

A RISING NUMBER OF HNWIS, COUPLED WITH SOLID GDP GROWTH AND

RISING EMPLOYMENT LEVEL BODE WELL FOR THE MARINE SECTOR

DATA

DIGEST

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ECONOMIC

X The pace of real GDP growth in the UK eased to 0.5%

in Q3 compared to 0.7% for the previous quarter, but the

bigger picture is still one of robust domestic demand in the

consumer sector.

X Full-year real GDP growth for 2015 is forecast at 2.4% by

the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 2.2% for 2016.

X Private consumption has been the primary driver of

growth in 2015 – fuelled by strong employment levels,

earnings growth, low energy costs, improving credit

availability and the feel-good factor of rising house prices

for home owners.

X Overall, household consumption is pegged to expand by

2.7% in 2015 and an estimated 2.3% in 2016.

X Imported goods and services have benefi tted nicely

from strong British demand surging 5.5% over the third

quarter, the biggest rise for seven years with a strong

sterling helping to lower the relative cost of imports.

CONFIDENCE

X Levels of consumer sentiment have eased back slightly

from earlier in the year but remain close to a 10-year high.

“For consumers, the good news on rising real wages and

improving job security trump the bad news from the global

economy,” said Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte.

X The UK jobless rate remains at a seven-year low, with

unemployment expected to average about 5.4% in 2015

and 4.9% in 2016. Infl ation, as measured by the consumer

prices index, dipped back into negative territory in

September, and is expected to remain close to zero for the

rest of this year.

X At the same time, weakness in emerging market sales

and the strong pound has dampened sentiment in the

corporate sector. The pace of export growth dipped to

0.9% over Q3, down from 1.9% in the previous quarter.

DEMAND

X Strong consumer confi dence has translated into record

new cars sales in the UK. Although sales dipped 1.1% in

October, 2015 will still be a record year for new cars. Year-

to-date sales are up 6.4% to 2.3 million units.

X The high-value market segments saw the biggest gains

in October, with specialist sports and luxury saloon vehicle

registrations growing 59% and 23% respectively. Demand

for alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) was also up 14%.

X The main threat to the rosy UK forecast is that

consumer spending remains vulnerable to interest-rate

rises and high levels of household indebtedness.

X Although the Bank of England is not expected to raise

interest rates until late 2016, it reported that the UK savings

ratio for the fi rst half of 2015 was the lowest since 1962.

X Similarly, household debt is high by historic standards,

and high relative to peer economies (household debt as

proportion of disposable income is about 130% in the UK,

above the ratio in Spain, the US and Germany).

X Mortgages account for the bulk of household debt in

England and half of these are variable-rate instruments,

making the economy highly sensitive to interest rate hikes.

DATA FOCUS: A look at HNWIs in the UK

X The population of high net worth individuals (HWNIs)

rose by 3.6% in 2014 to about 565,000 with a combined

wealth of nearly US$3 trillion. The largest proportion

(44.8%) of the UK HNWI set reside in London.

X Over 50% of HNWIs in the UK use LinkedIn for business

reasons, more than their use of any other social media site.

In fact, 71% of HNWIs in the UK access LinkedIn several

times a week.

X While 91% of HNWIs in the UK are over the age of 45,

38% of them work full-time and 23% are self-employed.

Social media usage is consistently high across all asset

ranges of the UK Affl uent population

£65K-£162.5K £162K-£325K £325K-£650K >£650K

UK:

Growing in confidence

* Mass affl uents control between £65,000 and £650,000 in investable assets.

HNWIs have £650,000 (approx. US$1 million) or more in investable assets,

not including the value of their main home.

Social Media Usage of UK Affl uents & HNWIs*

(by investable level of investable assets) £

£

83%

£ £

86%

£ £ £

83%

£ £ £ £

75%