People over 15 in full-time employment rose from 19 per cent last year to 22 per cent and those in informal employment doubled from 2 to 4 per cent. Those regarding themselves as self-employed dropped from 23 to 20 per cent, as did the number of people who were studying, to 14 per cent from 17. The number of women describing themselves as housewives increased from 13 to 15 per cent: the divorce rate rose to 5 per cent from 2 per cent.
While 70 per cent of those surveyed would not reveal how much they earned, of those who did 23 per cent earn less than $100 a month, 13 per cent earn between $101 and $200, 7 per cent between $201 and $300—and 2 per cent earn over $1,000 a month.
There have been significant changes in the sources of income, 35 per cent rely on other family members, down from 41 per cent a year ago, 17 per cent have their own business, down from 26 per cent, 25 per cent receive regular wages, up from 22 per cent last year and 13 per cent receive money from occasional work, up from 10 per cent. Those on pensions did not reach 1 per cent.
ZAMPS is a quantative, not qualative survey, so it does not ask the reasons for these changes. Its function is to determine which sectors of the public buy what, and the best way to reach them with advertising.
There has been an increase in the number of people reading (not buying, which ZAMPS does not measure) daily papers. Sixty-five per cent of all adults do so, up from 61 per cent a year ago. There has been an even bigger increase in those reading weeklies—now 58 per cent versus 48 per cent a year ago—and monthlies, up to 13 per cent from 8 per cent.
The public’s interest in local news has risen dramatically to 88 per cent from 63 per cent. Readership of the sports pages has risen to 39 per cent from 26 per cent, there has been a 3 per cent increase in readership of entertainment to 21 per cent, business news has risen from 13 per cent to 21 per cent—although there has been a drop-off in readership of weekly business papers.
Publications in the Zimbabwe Newspapers’ stable registered growth across the board.
Despite electricity cuts, the number of people watching television increased dramatically this year, from 89 per cent who watch either satellite or ZBC to 93 per cent. Over 50 per cent of people in LSMs 3 to 17 watch TV. There was a corresponding increase in radio listenership, from 62 per cent to 67 per cent and over 50 per cent of Zimbabweans from LSM 2 listen to it. The data includes rankings of the most popular local and satellite programmes.
ZAMPS 2015 recorded more interest in all forms of outdoor advertising: only advertisements on street poles remained static.
While the survey does not measure the impact of electronic advertising yet, due to budget constraints, it does ask the people interviewed how many people have Internet access. Forty-three per cent of adults have, down 1 per cent on last year. Twenty-eight per cent of people who access it use it for personal communications, 9 per cent for business and business research, 28 per cent for personal research, 13 per cent, up from 9 per cent a year ago, for news and just 1 per cent for banking and shopping.
People are even buying less mealiemeal, down 9 per cent to 83 per cent. The number of people buying bread, a new category in ZAMPS, is 89 per cent. You might speculate that this is because there is less time to cook with more people in employment.
Opaque and clear beer were both down, unusually as they have in the past balanced each other out: Delta’s recent results confirm that sales are lower across the board for beer, minerals and spirits.
Purchases of basic foodstuffs are down, cleaning materials are down, personal care products have dropped except for dental products, snacks are down, and less cigarettes and wine are being bought than a year ago. The only other products surveyed to show an increase in purchases are cooking oil, fizzy drinks and canned food. Seventy-four per cent of us eat chicken and 60 per cent of us eat eggs regularly.
Recent legislation against importing clothing seems to have impacted on flea market sales: 40 per cent of adults purchase their clothing there, down from 52 per cent, 40 per cent of children’s wear come from them and 53 per cent of the population buy second-hand shoes in them.
There has been a significant decrease in the number of people with accounts in commercial banks, at 28 per cent from 32 per cent a year ago. Building society accounts show a 1 per cent increase at 9 per cent. ATM card are the main reason for having a bank account at 23 per cent, up from 14 per cent, followed by savings: 19 per cent of those surveyed use them, up from 15 per cent. One per cent of the population have a credit card, up from 0.3 per cent. Loans are steady at 1 per cent.
Vehicle ownership has dropped to 12 per cent from 14 per cent. The only marques to increase ownership are Honda and, marginally, BMW. Toyota still lead the field.
Zimbabweans know all about mobile money: 97 per cent are aware of the market leader and 76 per cent of us use it, up from 55 per cent a year ago. Newer entrants have gained market share.
More than 100 per cent of us use cell phones, presumably explained by many of us having more than one ‘phone or multiple simcards. This is much higher than the African average, making Zimbabweans an easy market to communicate with.
Sixty-six per cent of us have no insurance at all and of those of us who do, 32 per cent have funeral insurance. Seventeen per cent have medical aid, increasingly PSMAS, just three per cent insure their cars, down from 4 per cent a year ago, yet 43 per cent of us claim to drive them—and just 1 per cent have a pension plan.
Electricity use is higher than ever at 93 per cent, up from 89 per cent a year ago. The increase in the number of people using wood to cook with, however, is enormous: 64 per cent of us now use it, up from 8 per cent. Cooking on gas has increased to 35 per cent from 1 per cent, paraffin from the same percentage to 25 per cent.
When it comes to heating, 74 per cent of us have none, 68 per cent use electricity, down from73 per cent last year, 45 per cent of us use wood, up from 16 per cent a year ago, 9 per cent use gas, 5 per cent paraffin and 1 per cent solar energy.
Candles are the main secondary source of light at 77 per cent, up from 6 per cent a year ago. Gas use has leapt from zero to 24 per cent, solar lighting from 2 per cent to 24 per cent.
Due to financial constraints, Topline Research Solutions conducted ZAMPS 2015 in urban areas only and the sample size was reduced to 1,000. Sections of the questionnaire that stakeholders felt were less relevant were dropped to curtail costs. ZAMPS is funded by a 1 .5 per cent levy on all Zimbabwean advertising and representatives of the marketing community, electronic and print media and advertising agencies decide the survey’s contents.
The research was conducted in all 10 provinces between October 1 and 25. It covered all Zimbabweans over 15: 59 per cent of Zimbabwe’s population are adult and 47 per cent of them live in urban areas. It contains over 1 million facts and is available on CD from the Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation’s office at $50.
Post published in: Business