India has the highest consumer confidence in the world, according to the global Consumer Confidence Index, created by research firm Nielsen.
The survey covers 60 countries and takes into account attitudes and opinions regarding job prospects, personal finances and spending intentions. Any score above a base of 100 is considered positive, while any score below 100 is negative. India scored the highest at 128, with several other Southeast Asian nations also ranking high on consumer confidence, including Indonesia (123) and the Philippines (120). China (111), Hong Kong (103) and Thailand (105) are positive as well, but consumers in Singapore (98), Vietnam (98) and Malaysia (93) are less assured. Japan (73) and especially South Korea (53) are currently quite pessimistic.
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India’s index score of 128 in Q2 2014 marks a seven-point increase from the first quarter (121) of this year.
“Consumers in India have indicated increased levels of confidence in the second quarter when the country’s general elections were taking place,” said Nielsen India Region President Piyush Mathur.
“This buoyancy is yet to translate into increased consumption across sectors. Despite the ongoing inflationary trend and expectations of a poor monsoon, consumers are likely to open their purse strings as we head into the festive season in response to savvy marketing stimulus,” he added.
Of those surveyed in India, 60 percent indicated that this is a good time to buy things they want and need. This is up six percentage points from 54 percent this last quarter, and 83 percent are optimistic about job prospects over the next twelve months.
“India is the most optimistic globally about local job prospects over the next 12 months and is followed by the Philippines (77 percent) and Indonesia (76 percent),” the survey reports.
79 percent of Indian’s indicated that their state of personal finances was good or excellent in the second quarter 2014, up from 76 per cent in Q1.
However, the top concern among respondents continues to be job security (23 percent) and the state of the economy (20 percent).
Concern on the state of the economy has increased by five percentage points over the last quarter to 15 percent, it added.
Established in 2005, the Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions measures consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 30,000 respondents and spans 60 countries.
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