Still spend, spend, spend for NZ
consumers
02.02.06
India, New Zealand and Norway have the world's most confident
consumers, an ACNielsen survey shows.
The twice-yearly survey found consumers in Portugal and South Korea
have the weakest confidence.
India, the world's second-fastest growing major economy, is
expanding at 8 per cent a year.
New Zealand is the third smallest and Norway is the 25th biggest
among the 48 economies tracked by Bloomberg.
Benedicto Cid, managing director at ACNielsen's Philippines unit,
said: "India is experiencing a boom ... New Zealand is nearly at
full employment so people are feeling confident in their job
prospects and companies are looking after people well."
The survey, conducted through the internet last November, covered
more than 23,000 consumers in 41 markets, including the United
States and Germany.
As a region, the Asia Pacific has the most optimistic consumers,
after North America, the survey found, edging out Latin America and
Europe.
In the Asia Pacific region, India, New Zealand, Malaysia, China and
Australia have the most-confident consumers with at least 75 per
cent of those polled expecting good local job prospects in the next
12 months. South Korea was the most pessimistic with 13 per
cent.
Consumers in India, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia
were the most optimistic about prospects for their personal
finances in the next 12 months. At least 50 per cent of those
surveyed in India, New Zealand, Australia and China claim they are
in "spending mode".