Indians happiest consumers: Survey

In the whole world, Indian consumers are the most confident lot. According to a global survey, consumer confidence in the country reached its highest level since the third quarter of 2007 and India topped the pack of 55 countries with 127 index points followed by Indonesia at 116 and Norway at 115, the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index has found.

“It is amazing that Indians are far more confident about the prospects of their economy than people from any other country. Even the gap between India and Indonesia is a huge 11 points, which goes to show how bubbly Indians are at the moment,” says Piyush Mathur, managing director-South Asia, The Nielsen Company. The rising index shows a rebounding faith in the economy and hope for a more optimistic future. Indian consumers believe that recession would soon be a thing of the past.

Consumer confidence rose in 41 of the 55 countries surveyed. As consumers across the globe started to spend again, they drove the global index up to 92 points (100 = average) in the first quarter. This represents a six-point increase from six months ago and only two points short of the 94-point index mark in the third quarter of 2007, just before the recession hit. Consumer confidence hit an all time low of 77 index points in early 2009, following the collapse of the international financial system.

This new wave of optimism though highlights the disparity between the east and the west. While all global regions posted positive increases in consumer confidence, the pace and extent of economic recovery further widened between the booming Asia Pacific and Latin American countries compared to the sluggish recovery in the United States and western Europe.