Indians World's 2nd Most Confident About Economy: Ipsos Poll

Indians have emerged as the second most confident people about their economy, across the world, on account of easing inflationary pressure and increased foreign investment, according to a report by leading global research firm Ipsos.

The report said that India's economic confidence jumped by 9 points to 74 percent in the month of February compared to the previous month, becoming the second most economically confident country after Saudi Arabia which tops the chart with 90 percent.

Countries with the greatest declines: Argentina (-8 to 47%), Poland (-6 to 21%), Belgium (-6 to 16%), Indonesia (-5 to 40%) and Australia (-4 to 66%).

Assessment of how Geographic Region are Performing?

The Middle East and Africa is the geographic region with the highest aggregate assessment (+2 to 63%), followed by Latin America (-1 to 46%), Asia Pacific (+1 to 44%), North America (-1 to 42%) and Europe (-2 to 23%).

The Middle East and Africa has improved every month since the start of the winter. Its performance is carried by juggernaut Saudi Arabia (90%) which continues to lead world rankings on national economic confidence.

APAC's improvements are partly due to the volatile trend line of Chinese economic sentiment (72%), which rose eight points this wave, reflecting government control of prices and inflation.

Europe returns to December 2011 levels, making January's increase look like a blip on the radar. Its performance is mirrored by Great Britain (10%) where a three-point drop brings the sentiment levels back to levels seen in the last three months of 2011. Germany's (71%) one-point improvement suggests its jump last month might indicate signal lasting growth.

Latin America has been relatively steady since last summer. During that time, Mexico (29%) and Argentina (47%) have jumped up and down while Brazil's (63%) rating has improved almost consistently since that time.

The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) continue to show strength in economic assessment levels (59% national, 41% local), well above the G8 countries. The gap between the BRIC and G8 (32 points) has been increasing due to BRIC improvements over the past three months.

Japan (-1 to 6%), Hungary (-2 to 6%), Spain (+1 to 7%), Belgium (-4 to 11%), Italy (+2 to 12%) and France (+1 to 13%) sit at the bottom of the global ranking.

Countries with the greatest declines: Poland (-6 to 18%), Brazil (-6 to 44%), Argentina (-6 to 29%) and Indonesia (-5 to 26%).

Future Outlook for Local Economy Down One Point

Countries with the greatest improvements: India (+6 to 56%), Mexico (+6 to 42%), South Africa (+5 to 21%), Italy (+4 to 19%), Turkey (+3 to 34%) and South Korea (3 to 14%).

Countries with the greatest declines: Saudi Arabia (-6 to 57%), Brazil (-5 to 69%), China (-5 to 34%), Sweden (-4 to 12%), Poland (-4 to 12%) and Indonesia (-4 to 28%).