India's economic confidence up but trails neighbours'

India's growth numbers may be nothing to write home about, but people's confidence in the country's economy has improved significantly over the years, according to a study by Washington-based Gallup Inc.

The survey shows India's economic confidence index swelled between 2009 and 2012, but was far behind those of China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India's score in the index improved from seven in 2009 to 16 in 2012, making the country one of the seven in Asia, of the 16 polled, to show improvement in confidence. Although Bangladesh's and Sri Lanka's scores fell sharply, their scores stayed above India's, at 20 each. Pakistan's went from bad to worse, with its score plunging from -44 to -51. For the survey, 1,000 people were polled across 108 countries.

"Although the height of the global economic crisis has passed, world residents are still feeling the effects, with many perceiving only modest improvements in their economies," said Gallup. It said American and Asian countries weathered the economic crisis better than European ones.

Gallup's index is based on the combined responses to two questions: The first asking individuals to rate economic conditions in their country today, and the second, whether they think economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting better or worse.

Within Asia, China remained the leader. With a score of 73, it is the third highest in the world, but a slight drop since 2009, when it ranked No 1. China's economic growth has slowed in the past year, which might cause its confidence to fall further in 2013. Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand also have high net-positive scores but these countries experienced double-digit improvements between 2009 and 2012.

Residents of Qatar (88) and Uzbekistan (74) showed more confidence in their economies than the Chinese. Qatar's economic confidence increased remarkably by a score of 29, while the Uzbeks added 17 to their score.