Consumer confidence improves in October; surges by 1.9%: PCSI Survey

Consumer Confidence of urban Indians has further improved in the month of October as it surged by 1.9 percentage points over September, according to the Refinitiv-Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI). The PCSI survey is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings and confidence to make large investments. The Index is composed of four sub-indices: current conditions index; expectations index; investment index; and, jobs index.

The monthly PCSI, which is driven by the aggregation of the four weighted sub-indices has shown improvement across at least 3 sub-indices in October, over the previous month. These indices include- the PCSI economic expectations (expectations) sub-index, which is up minutely by 0.3 percentage points; the PCSI investment climate (investment) sub-index, which has increased by a robust 3.8 percentage points; the PCSI current personal financial conditions (current conditions) sub-index which has moved up significantly by 4.2 percentage points; and the PCSI employment confidence (jobs) sub-index, which is down by 0.5 percentage points.

Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India said, “Consumer Confidence has improved in October and notably in the two key areas of personal finances and investments for the future. This augurs well for the festival season as consumers do not feel strapped for funds to splurge and enjoy the festival time. Confidence around the economy has seen a minor uptick and it’s understandable as the economy will take a longer time to repair and recover, due to the long-term impact of the pandemic. Confidence around jobs is downbeat and this needs special focus, both by the govt and India Inc – after all, the improved job outlook is critical to the sustainability of demand.”