The survey, conducted over the internet in October, covered 28 markets across Asia pacific, Europe and the United States and interviewed 14,134 consumers.

The survey shows among the top ten markets in the world that are most optimistic about the economic outlook, eight are from Asia pacific. The Chinese mainland topped the list with 78 percent respondents looking forward to future economic improvement over the coming year, a three-percentage point increase since the last survey six months ago.

Following closely behind were India by 77 percent and Indonesia by 76 percent. In Hong Kong, consumer confidence in the economic outlook increased to 68 percent.

"Consumer confidence in Asia pacific remains strong with the region's consumers standing out as the most upbeat out of all three regions surveyed, and this will be music to the ears of investors as they wait for signs that Asia has emerged from its economic doldrums," said Bienvenido Niles Jnr, president of AC Nielsen Asia Pacific.

However, consumer sentiment remained low in South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, where only 22 percent, 28 percent and 32 percent respectively felt that their economies would improve over the next year.

The survey also shows that people over the world share a common concern, that is a deterioration of their local economy and what a downturn may bring. About 66 percent of respondents cited the economy as their major concerns, and 57 percent of the correspondents cited health as a concern.

AC Nielsen is a leading marketing information company in the world, offering services in more than 100 countries.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2004)