Consumer Confidence slips by 1.6 percentage points in August 2020

Consumer sentiment down for jobs, economy, and personal finances. A notch up for investments!

Consumer Sentiment has dipped in August 2020 by 1.6 percentage points, according to the monthly  Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI) for India.

The monthly PCSI, which is driven by the aggregation of the four weighted sub-indices, has shown a drop for at least 3 of the 4 indices in August. The PCSI Employment Confidence (“Jobs”) Sub-Index has fallen by a significant  4.5 percentage points; the PCSI Economic Expectations (“Expectations”) Sub Index, slid by 1.4 percentage points; the PCSI Current Personal Financial Conditions (“Current Conditions”) Sub-Index is down by 0.4 percentage points; only the PCSI Investment Climate (“Investment”) Sub-Index  has slightly moved up by 0.2 percentage points.

“Everything is unlocked except the containment zones; but since the pandemic is far from over, offices and commercial establishments are working in a staggered way – so technically, not to the optimum capacity. The ongoing pandemic and the ad hoc/ short duration lockdowns have severely impacted the smooth functioning of establishments, staving off jobs by hundreds and thousands. While the economy is on a painful and long drawn rebound, job creation is the biggest challenge facing the nation. And we are not talking about the migrant workers, here. Blue and White collar workers are affected too. Absence of some rebound on job creation front would lead to further lowering of the sentiment in future. Confidence in the economy is somewhat shaky and rising inflation is not making things easy. We need more jobs, definitely, on a war footing, even as we fight the virus,” said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.   

These are findings of an Ipsos online poll conducted July 24, 2020–August 7, 2020.  For this survey, a sample of 500 adults from Ipsos’ India online panel  aged 16-64 was interviewed online. As this is an online poll in India, representative of the online community in the country, it is not reflective of the general population; however, the online sample in is particularly valuable in their own right as they are more urban, educated and have more income than their fellow citizens and often referred to as “Upper Deck Consumer Citizens” or Primary Consumers. The precision of the Refinitiv/Ipsos online polls is measured using a Bayesian Credibility Interval. In his case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for all adults. For more information on the Bayesian Credibility Interval please see  http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5836

The Refinitiv/Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI), ongoing since 2010, 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.