The consumer confidence index in Viet Nam increased by six points to 112 points during the last quarter. — Photo vietstock.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The consumer confidence index in Viet Nam increased by six points to 112 points during the last quarter, according to Nielsen's reort for the first quarter of 2015 released on May 20.

This was the third third consecutive increase and the country's highest score since 2010, making Viet Nam the sixth optimistic nation in the world.

The report showed a continued trend towards saving money by 86 per cent of interviewees over the past year. More than half (56 per cent) said they had cut spending because they believed the country was in economic recession.

More than 60 per cent said they cut spending on new clothes and tried to economise on electricity and gas use, and 57 per cent skimped on entertainment.

Vietnamese are now among the world's best savers. Seventy eight per cent put their spare money into savings, the report said. However, 44 per cent were still ready to pay for holidays and 40 per cent wanted to spend on hi-tech gadgets.

Health was the biggest concern for Vietnamese, not the state of the economy or job security, according to the report. One in every five were worried about their health, while 15 per cent were concerned about the economy and only 16 per cent anxious about job security.

The quarterly report showed consumers in Southeast Asian were the most optimistic. Three out of five countries with the highest consumer confidence scores were Indonesia with 123 points, the Philippines with 115 points and Thailand with 114 points.— VNS