Asia Pacific dominates the top; Europe the bottom
Asia Pacific continues to dominate the list of most optimistic countries with seven of the top 10 highest consumer confidence scores hailing from this region. India, despite a decline of five points, retains the top spot with an index of 121, followed by Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Hungary (37) was the most pessimistic country in third quarter, together with Portugal (40), South Korea, Romania and Croatia (49).
Asia Pacific and Latin America were the world’s most optimistic regions in the third quarter at 97 points, while Asia Pacific posted a one point regional decline from 98 points in Q2. Middle East/Africa followed closely at 96 index points with a two point quarterly gain. North America declined two points to 79 and Europe remained the most pessimistic region, remaining flat at 74 points
European nations remain among the most pessimistic. “Across the euro zone, the looming debt crisis and extreme volatility of financial markets is driving consumer confidence levels down, particularly in Portugal (40), Ireland (64), Greece (51) and Spain (56), each reporting consumer confidence index scores well below the European average of 74,” continued Dr. Bala. Several markets posted double-digit confidence declines last quarter with the largest decrease from France, dropping 13 index points to 56.
“During the summer, the European debt crisis caused a strong uncertainty among consumers, especially in France where the budget deficit is close to 5.8 percent of the GDP and the unemployment rate is close to 10 percent,” said Philippe Guerrieri, Country Manager, Nielsen France.
The Nordic region also reported a drop in confidence, with Denmark, Finland and Sweden declining in third quarter. Denmark saw the biggest decline, dropping 12 points—straying from a 97 average index performance registered since the 2009 recession. “A major factor in this latest decline is largely attributed to an uncertain economic future due to a heated national election, whereby duelling party positions resulted in one of the closest races in more than 10 years,” said Peter Schelde, Managing Director, Nielsen Denmark. “With increasing unemployment, Danes are worried for the future and are reticent to spend money
-source from The Nielsen Company website
