Consumer sentiment improves for urban Indians in Dec 2023: Report

Consumer sentiment shows recovery and uptick of 1.2 percentage points for urban Indians in December 2023, according to the Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI). The monthly PCSI result, which is driven by the aggregation of four weighted sub-Indices, displays a mixed response across the four sub-indices.

The PCSI Current Personal Financial Conditions (“Current Conditions”) Sub-Index is up 3.2 percentage points; the PCSI Investment Climate (“Investment”) Sub-Index has improved and is up 3.0 percentage points. On the contrary, PCSI Economic Expectations (“Expectations”) Sub-Index is down 0.1 percentage points and the PCSI Employment Confidence (“Jobs”) Sub-Index has dipped 1.9 percentage points.

Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India, noted, “We see a slight recovery and upturn in consumer sentiment in December, after November’s downturn. The RBI has left the Repo Rate unchanged in its recent Monetary Policy, which means no hike in interest rates on home loans, vehicle loans, borrowings, etc., which should have brought some cheer to consumers. Improvement in sentiment is seen more around the 2 sub-indices of current financial conditions and investments, which show consumers do not need to observe frugality in their spending and savings. Sentiment around jobs and the economy continues to be pessimistic as the two wars in Israel and Ukraine and a significant slowdown in the global economy continue to impact most global markets, especially now that we are seeing job cuts by major global companies.”

Consumer Sentiment in 29 Countries

Among the 29 countries, India (64.3) holds the highest National Index score this month. Indonesia (63.9) and Mexico (60.0) are the only other countries with a National Index score of 60 or higher.

Six other countries show a National Index above the 50-point mark: Thailand (58.1), Singapore (57.5), Brazil (56.5), the Netherlands (52.2), Poland (51.5), and the U.S. (51.1). For Poland, this month’s score is the country’s highest since November 2019.

In contrast, five countries now show a National Index below the 40-point mark: Chile (39.9), South Korea (39.1), Japan (37.5), Hungary (36.6), and Türkiye (35.5).