Vietnamese consumer confidence stands at 99 points for the forth quarter of 2011, an increase of three points against the previous quarter. This was the first confidence increase in 2011, after decreasing for the first three quarters consecutively, according to the Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions.

Nielsen Holdings is a global information and measurement company, and Nielsen Vietnam officially reported Vietnam's survey results and other relevant information on Feb. 7.

The survey was conducted between November 23 and December 9, 2011 and polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

First launched in 2005, the survey tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 28,000 internet consumers in 56 countries. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

"Fifty-four percent of consumers described their state of personal finance as excellent/good, an increase of 1 point against the third quarter of 2011.

"Vietnamese consumers still display signs of uncertainty, as 71 percent of respondents indicated that it was not a good time to buy the things they want and need over the next 12 months, unchanged from the third quarter of 2011," the survey reported.

More than half of global online consumers described their personal finances for 2012 as excellent/good, up from 50 percent in the third quarter of 2011, but 65 percent indicated it was not a good time to buy, up 1 percent from the previous quarter.

The company also said 58 percent of Vietnamese consumers believed their job prospects to be excellent/good in 2012, up 1 percent from the third quarter of 2011.

Global consumer confidence increased one index point last quarter to 89, while Europe led confidence declines in 24 of the region's 27 measured markets, according to 2011's fourth quarter global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analysis into what consumers watch and buy.

In the latest round of the survey, conducted between November 23 and December 9, 2011, overall confidence levels fell in 60 percent of global markets measured with confidence declines in 35 out of 56 markets. Confidence rose in 12 markets and remained flat in nine.

About two–thirds of online respondents in Vietnam indicated they believed the country was in a recession, down three points from the previous quarter, but remained 11 points higher than a year ago. Thirty-four percent of Vietnamese believed they could be out of recession in the next 12 months, the lowest percentage reported in 2011, according to the survey.

"Uncertainty remains as 84 percent of online Vietnamese consumers indicated they had changed their spending to save on household expenses, down 2 percent from last quarter," it reported. Vietnamese consumers indicated a reduction on the following: gas and electricity (67 percent), out–of–home entertainment (61 percent), new clothes (60 percent), telephone expenses (51 percent), replacing major household items (49 percent) and upgrading technology (49 percent).

Whereas, consumer concern for the economy increased as a top fear among 18 percent of global respondents – an increase of six points from last quarter, which resulted in 64 percent of consumers around the world indicating they believed they were in a recession, up from 62 percent last quarter./.