NielsenIQ (NIQ), the world’s leading global consumer intelligence company, has released its much-anticipated Mid-Year Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2025 report, identifying macro catalysts across industries. The report anticipates that global consumers will spend $3.2 trillion more in 2025, representing nearly 6% growth compared to 2024, according to World Data Lab.

In Egypt, there are signs of growing consumer confidence and resilience, despite the increased cost of living. 45% of Egyptian consumers feel their finances are better-off versus 27% indicating they are worse-off; 84% of the latter mentioning that the cause of their financial strain is the increased cost of living. Increasing food prices are a top concern (35%) for most consumers; around a 1/3 of consumers (35%) will shop more often at discount/value/lower-priced stores. 

On spending habits, Egyptian consumers are willing to spend more on at-home experiences to save on restaurant and entertainment expenses (77%).

At the same time, they would try a new brand because of its lower price (74%) or purchase a product that has innovated to make it as affordable as possible (69%). As much as 66% of Egyptians use social media as their primary source to learn about new products and services.

Nihal Elkoussi, NielsenIQ Egypt, Managing Director comments that “For 2025, we anticipate deeper integrations between e-commerce platforms and social media which allows consumers a seamless shopping experience directly within social feeds. Online shopping for Groceries remains to be a key area of growth despite the relatively smaller share of the pie. Worth noting that NIQ Q2' 24 report shows that there is 10% increase in penetration of online shopping vs last year reaching 17% across all industries shopped.”

Global catalysts and top trends for 2025:

•          Readiness for AI – 63% of Egyptian consumers would avoid sharing personal details in virtual interactions because they do not trust data privacy with AI technologies. On another note, more than half (56%) would purchase a product or service you have only examined or experienced through Augmented reality or virtual reality.

•          Health & Wellbeing conscious – 66% of Egyptian consumers will start or increase their intake of vitamins and supplements to support their health and wellbeing. At the same time, 61% would spend more on products that help with relaxation and anti-stress.

•          Omnichannel evolution - 66% of Egyptian consumers are using social media as their primary source to learn about new products and services. Interestingly, just less than half of consumers (48%) would change brands based upon the recommendation of a social influencer or purchase a product by participating in a live-stream shopping experience on social media (53%). 

•          Hot commodity costs - Snacks and confectionery (22%), are sectors consumers aim to spend less on in the next 12 months while fresh foods remain high on their shopping preference list.

“Consumers are seeking value with every purchase in multiple ways. They are spreading their spending in purposeful ways, and their habits and behaviors are changing fast in response to economic trends and new technologies,” says Lauren Fernandes, Vice President, Global Thought Leadership, NIQ.