More than 40 percent of Middle East professionals fail to save anything from their household income, according to a new survey conducted by Bayt.com.
The results of the Bayt.com MENA Saving and Spending Trends poll showed that only 18.3 percent of Middle East execs manage to save between 1-10 percent of their income.
The result are in line with the latest Bayt.com Consumer Confidence Index survey, in which the overwhelming majority of Middle East professionals claimed that their salary increase was not keeping up with the cost of living.
Poll results also revealed that 32.3 percent of Middle East execs spend 21-40 percent of their income on rent or mortgage with 34.7 percent spending even more than that.
Moreover 66.6 percent of respondents said they do not currently own any home for either personal or investment purposes.
Outside of housing costs (which includes rent or mortgage and utilities), 40.8 percent of respondents claimed their biggest expenditure was on food, and 15.6% said it was on school fees.
Transport, travel and clothing racked up a collective 23.6 percent of costs, the survey showed.
Amer Zureikat, VP sales at Bayt.com, said: “The current distribution of expendable income suggests that in the first half of 2011, the majority of respondents are spending on essential items only, with very little being used towards entertainment and the purchase of non-essential goods.
“This correlates with earlier data gathered by Bayt.com, and suggests that the current costs of living exceed the salaries received by most professionals in the MENA region.”
The poll results showed that more than half of Middle East professionals were expecting to retire after 60, with the primary source of post-employment financial support coming from career savings and investments.
Data for the survey was collected online between June 13 and July 30, with a total of 11,991 participants from across the Middle East.