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 According to a global consumer confidence survey by consultancy firm Nielsen, Brazil ranked 4th for optimism among the world's economies in the second quarter of 2009. The average figure for consumer confidence in the 28 markets surveyed was 82, growth of 5 points compared with March 2009, when the average was 77 points.
According to a release issued by Nielsen, the first in the ranking was Indonesia (113 points), followed by India (112), the Philippines (103) and Brazil (96). Next came Australia (95), China (94) and the Emirates (93). The top-10 list ends with Canada (90), New Zealand (89), which lost one point in comparison with the previous quarter, and Singapore (87).
Of the 28 countries surveyed by Nielsen, the one with the highest growth was India, whose score increased by 13 points, having gone from 99 in March to 112 in the second quarter. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia gained nine points each.
Brazil and Taiwan improved their scores by eight points each. Consumer confidence rose seven points in Singapore, Turkey, Russia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. In the Emirates, the score improved by four points.
The United States and France did not record any variation in consumer confidence levels, which remained respectively at 80 and 60 points, whereas Germany, similar to New Zealand, lost one point, having gone from 73 to 72.
Nielsen's survey was conducted online among 14,029 consumers in 28 different countries in late June. Among the interviewees, 71% answered that they believe their countries to be in recession, a reduction of 6% over the 77% recorded as of March 2009.
According to Nielsen, even in Germany, the leading economy in Europe, where the index fell, there are encouraging signs of imminent recovery. The consultancy informs that approximately one third of Germans (29%) believe that the recession is going to improve in the next 12 months, whereas 22% believe in a recovery in the last quarter only.
One out of three Germans also believes that this is a good moment for buying something superfluous. To 38% of the German population, their finances will be in "good" conditions as of next year.
All over the world, job security and economic conditions have remained the two main concerns of consumers. The indices for those categories, however, have decreased by two and four points, respectively.
Anba
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