Consumer Confidence Shows Marginal Recovery In July 2023: Survey

Consumer Confidence for urban Indians has shown a marginal recovery with a slight uptick of 0.8 percentage points in July 2023, according to the Refinitiv-Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment.

The monthly PCSI result, which is driven by the aggregation of the four, weighted, sub-Indices, shows a mixed bag for all four sub-indices:  The PCSI Employment Confidence Sub-Index has crawled up 0.1 percentage points; the PCSI Economic Expectations Sub-Index has fallen 2.4 percentage points; the PCSI Investment Climate Sub-Index is up 1.7 percentage points; and the PCSI Current Personal Financial Conditions Sub-Index has increased by 2.0 percentage points over last month.

Summarising the findings of the survey, Ipsos India CEO, Amit Adarkar said, “Consumer sentiment has bounced back after last month’s drop, and we see recovery around personal finances and investments, which means consumers are flush with funds for not only running their household expenses but also have funds for investments in big-ticket purchases and savings. This buoyancy should make marketers happy. We also see some recovery around jobs. Though consumers are slightly apprehensive about the economy, which is quite understandable, as the global macro forces have left deep-seated impacts, whether it is the long-drawn pandemic, war in Ukraine, and economic slowdown, India is not insulated to stave off the impact completely with repercussions like inflation and job cuts.” 

Since March 2023, Ipsos India has moved the survey from covering only netizens to including an expanded offline sample, using the Ipsos IndiaBus – 1800 offline sample + 400 online samples, covering 16 cities across the length and breadth of the country, scientifically chosen, from NCCS A, B & C. More representative of the urban population.

Ipsos IndiaBus is a monthly pan India omnibus (which also runs multiple client surveys), that uses a structured questionnaire and is conducted by Ipsos India on diverse topics among 2200+ respondents from SEC A, B and C households, covering adults of both genders from all four zones in the country. The survey is conducted in metros, tier1, tier 2, and tier 3 towns, providing a more robust and representative view of urban Indians. The respondents were polled face-to-face and online. We have a city-level quota for each demographic segment that ensures the waves are identical and no additional sampling error. The data is weighted by demographics and city-class population to arrive at national average.

Overall consumer confidence index – July 2023 

India has improved its ranking and moved to the 4th spot, from the previous 5th spot last month.