Indian Citizens Economic Confidence Dips in December: Ipsos Study
Global Average of National Economic Assessments dips by One Point to 38 percent
Tweet-- Indian citizens Economic Confidence dropped by 1 point to 68% in the month of December compared to the previous month, making India the (joint) third most economically confident country along with Australia, according to the global economic report by Ipsos, world's 3rd largest market research company.
Almost half of Indian Citizens (48%) believe their local economy which impacts their personal finance is good and 50 percent people expect that the economy in their local area will be stronger in six months from now. It is important to note that the optimism has considerably declined in the last six months.
The report, titled 'Ipsos Global @dvisory: The Economic Pulse of the World' is based on 21,245 recent online interviews in 24 countries around the world; and examines citizens' assessment of the current state of their country's economy for a total global perspective. More than 1000 Indian citizens were interviewed for the study.
"The political turmoil has prevented the scam-hit UPA Government from taking any major policy decisions. Central Government has been suffering from policy paralysis due to a combined attack by the Opposition and some of its own allies which has forced the Government to hold back its decision on allowing FDI in retail sector, which puts a big question mark on the ability of the Government to go for any further economic reforms. As a result, it seems the crisis-hit UPA Government is in no position to infuse the confidence that is required to boost the falling economy, which is already facing turbulence due to gloomy global economic scenario," says Mick Gordon, Managing Director of Ipsos in India.
On the regional level, the economic assessments show more variation. In fact, every geographic region experienced some movement in this round on assessments of their national economy. The Middle East and Africa (59%) improved one point while North America (42%) improved two points. Latin America (46%) declined three points, Asia-Pacific (42%) declined two points and Europe (23%), already in last place by a painful margin, softened an additional point.
Europe's declining figures are dragged in particular by Belgium, which dropped 17 points since its 2011 highpoint in April. Since May, Italy has dropped eight points, Great Britain five points, and even juggernaut Germany, a global leader, is showing a modest decline of four points since May.
How are some of the other global economies performing?
The global aggregate assessment of national economies inches back downwards one point this month to 38 percent of global citizens reporting current economic conditions in their country are "good".
The Ipsos polls finds Saudi Arabia (86%) has inspired the most economic confidence among its residents, by a wide margin. Consistent global leaders Sweden (74%), Australia (68%), India (68%) and Canada (63%) appear to trail behind Saudi Arabia's near unanimous national economic assurance.
The people of Hungary (2%), Spain (4%), Italy (5%), France (5%), Japan (8%) and Great Britain (8%) appear to find little reason to have confidence in their national economies.
Countries with the greatest improvements: Russia (+5 to 30%), Turkey (+4 to 58%), the United States (+2 to 21%), Australia (+1 to 68%), Canada (+1 to 63%), Sweden (+1 to 74%), Spain (+1 to 4%) and Japan (+1 to 8%).
Countries with the greatest declines: South Korea (-5 to 21%), Belgium (-5 to 19%), Indonesia (-4 to 46%), Saudi Arabia (-3 to 86%), Germany (-3 to 61%), Argentina (-3 to 52%) and Brazil (-3 to 56%).
Local Economic Assessment which Impacts Citizens Personal Finance
The global average of local economic assessment among the 24 countries remains unchanged again this month with three in ten (29%) citizens rating their current local economies as "good."
A 16-point gap existed on local economies assessment, between citizen of Saudi Arabia (64%) and runners up China (48%), India (48%) and Sweden (48%). Australia (47%) and Brazil (46%) are next in line.
Japan (5%) sits in last place on this measure, followed by Spain (6%), Hungary (7%), Italy (10%) and France (12%).
Countries with the greatest improvements: Sweden (+5 to 48%), the United States (+4 to 23%), Poland (+2 to 21%), Canada (+1 to 45%), Russia (+1 to 19%), Turkey (+1 to 45%) and Australia (+1 to 47%).
Countries with the greatest declines: Saudi Arabia (-3 to 64%), Brazil (-3 to 46%), Germany (-2 to 41%), Spain (-2 to 6%), South Africa (-2 to 23%), Belgium (-2 to 14%) and Argentina (-2 to 34%).
Future Outlook for Local Economy Remains Unchanged
Looking ahead six months from now, one quarter (24%) of global citizen expect the economy in their local area to be "stronger," a figure that has remained unchanged since August of last year.
Ipsos poll shows that Brazilians are most optimistic about their future outlook of their economy with seven in ten (71%) reporting they expect their local economies to be stronger. Saudi Arabia (60%) falls next, followed by India (50%), Argentina (45%), Mexico (39%) and Indonesia (37%).
Almost no one in France (2%) seems to express confidence in the future of their local economy. Similarly, those in Hungary (3%), Belgium (5%), Japan (7%) and Great Britain (7%) rank last on this measure.
Countries with the greatest improvements: Turkey (+7 to 35%), Saudi Arabia (+6 to 60%), Indonesia (+5 to 37%), Spain (+4 to 21%), Poland (+3 to 16%) and the United States (+3 to 23%).
Countries with the greatest declines: China (-10 to 32%), Italy (-9 to 12%), Sweden (-4 to 12%), South Africa (-4 to 16%) and Hungary (-3 to 3%).
About Ipsos Global @dvisor: The Economic Pulse of the World Survey:
The Ipsos Global @dvisor: The Economic Pulse of the World survey was conducted between December 6th and December 19th, 2011. The survey instrument is conducted monthly in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. The countries reporting herein are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.
For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 21,245 adults aged 18-64 years in the US and Canada, and aged 16-64 years in all other countries, were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample of approximately 500+ respondents.
Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflected that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data, and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1,000 and an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20 per country of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in that country had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
Notes to Editor
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