Western consumers most wary on recovery

CONSUMERS IN large developing countries are more confident about their economies than their counterparts in western Europe and the US, according to an opinion poll.

In India, 85 per cent of consumers see their country’s economic situation as good, while 77 per cent of people in China and 65 per cent in Brazil are also optimistic.

However, in Spain just 5 per cent view their economy positively, in France 6 per cent, in the UK 13 per cent and the US 18 per cent, according to a survey of 19,000 citizens in 24 countries by Ipsos Mori.

The gulf between the developing economies that have grown robustly out of the downturn and many of the developed nations that have continued to battle fears of renewed recession and sovereign debt problems, underlines the sense of an emerging new world order.

Cliff Young, a managing director at Ipsos, said: “The global data show something quite unexpected – a flatline ‘L’ in consumer confidence. Indeed, after a slight recovery between mid-2009 and the beginning of 2010 – mostly driven by China, Brazil and India – global consumers have remained pessimistic about the economy.”

Ipsos believes the absence of a recovery in consumer confidence to match signs of economic recovery reflects high levels of unemployment in many developed economies.

Weak confidence in western Europe and the US appears to have hardened this year as fears of fresh crisis have emerged over sovereign debt problems.– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)