India Fourth Most Economically Confident Country: Ipsos Study

Mumbai, 25 June, 2014 — India’s economic confidence has got a major boost primarily due to a landslide victory of the business-friendly Government led by Narendra Modi, who has vowed to boost growth, control inflation and restore investor confidence, according to a report by global research firm Ipsos.

According to the Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey, India’s economic confidence shot up by 6 points to 66 percent in the month of May 2014 compared to the month of April 2014, making it the fourth most economically confident country in the world after Saudi Arabia, Germany and China.

Indians are the most optimistic people in the world and are very confident of good time coming soon. For the very first time India (60%) tops the list of countries whose citizen expect its economy will be stronger in next half year.

Marginally less than a half of Indian Citizens (43%) believe their local economy which impacts their personal finance, is good – a significant rise of 5 points.

“All the data points in the Ipsos report indicate India’s economic confidence have shot up substantially, which is also corroborated by the fact that India’s current account deficit has significantly eased, the currency has stabilised, inflation has substantially pulled back, stock market had a dream run so far and corporate earnings are improving,” said Mick Gordon, CEO, Ipsos in India.

“However, recent high food inflation, conflict in oil-producing Iraq and the fear of a below normal monsoon is big challenge for the new government,” added Gordon.

The online Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey was conducted in May 2014 among 19,242 people in 25 countries.

For a second month in a row, the average global economic assessment of national economies surveyed in 25 countries remains unchanged as 39% of global citizens rate their national economies to be good.

Although down two points since last round, Saudi Arabia (87%) is in the lead once again, with Germany (75%), China (66%), India (66%), Canada (65%), Sweden (64%) and Indonesia (59%) following behind. European countries dominate the bottom of the global average: France (9%), Italy (9%), Spain (10%), Romania (10%), Hungary (18%) and Argentina (18%).

Countries with the greatest improvements in this wave: South Africa (28%, 10pts), Indonesia (59%, 9pts), Russia (58%, 8pts), India (66%, 6pts), Great Britain (43%, 6pts), Poland (31%, 6pts) and Belgium (42%, 2pts).

Countries with the greatest declines: Australia (53%, -7pts), Hungary (18%, -6pts), Brazil (20%, -6pts), South Korea (19%, -4pts), Sweden (64%, -2pts), Saudi Arabia (87%, -2pts) and China (66%, -2pts).

Up three points since last sounding, Saudi Arabia (67%) leads the local economy assessment which impacts their personal finance, followed by Germany (55%), Sweden (51%), China (48%), India (43%), Canada (42%), and Indonesia (39%). Ranked the lowest in this measure this month is Italy (9%), followed by Spain (11%), Romania (12%), Hungary (13%), France (13%), Japan (14%) and Argentina (15%).

A new leader emerges in the form of India (60%) which tops the list of countries that predict their local economies will be stronger in the next six months. The rest of the highest-ranking countries are: Brazil (56%), Saudi Arabia (53%), Indonesia (50%), China (39%), Mexico (31%) and Argentina (31%). Only 6% of those in France expect their future local economies will be “stronger” in the next half year, followed by South Africa (11%), South Korea (13%), Hungary (14%), and Japan (14%).

The survey instrument Global @dvisor is conducted monthly in 25 countries via the Ipsos Online Panel system. For the results of the survey, a total sample of 19,242 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, was interviewed between April 1st to April 15th 2014. Approximately 1000+ individuals were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United States of America. Approximately 500+ individuals were surveyed in Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey.