No fear

We predicted it back in September 2006: worries about terrorism would shoot up in the next round of the ACNielsen survey.

Sure enough, there are twice as many Indians listing terrorism as a major concern this time: 31 per cent, compared to 15 per cent in June.

That's the highest figure among the 45 countries included in the survey, and significantly higher than the regional and global averages of 11 and 15 per cent, respectively. The Mumbai train blasts and the London airline plot have clearly left their mark.

But terrorism apart, nothing really appears to daunt the Indian consumer. The country doesn't appear in any of the lists of the top 10 countries worrying about various issues.

Instead, it makes an appearance on the list of nations that have no worries at all. Not everybody is as unconcerned. Over 65 per cent of Indonesians and Thais are giving themselves frown lines worrying about the economy, rising pollution levels makes 67 per cent Chinese fear for their health, while high unemployment rates and falling real wages are the reason 63 per cent of Hungarian respondents are anxious about job security.

Which is not to say the Indian consumer does not fret at all. It is just that he's showing it less "" last time, close to half the respondents were worrying about the state of the economy (even though India was chugging along at over 8 per cent).

Now, it has dropped over 22 points to settle at 27 per cent. Worries about political stability are significantly less, too: with just 10 per cent citing it as a major concern (23 per cent in June 2006).

Job security is an issue with just 31 per cent (down two points from last time), and there's just a little more tension about health (up four points to 30 per cent) and crime (up three points to 13 per cent).

Two new options were added in the November 2006 survey, but even they don't faze the Indian consumer. While 8 per cent said they worried about global warming (a couple of points above the regional and global averages), just 4 per cent said immigration was a major concern.

In contrast, European nations appeared anxious about these issues. Six of the top 10 countries that listed this as a major concern were from the continent, with France the most worried, at 27 per cent. It's a similar story with immigration, with eight European nations among the top 10 and the UK turning out to be the most concerned, with 24 per cent.

Across the world, there's been a two-point drop in those saying they have no worries at all. The Netherlands has maintained its leadership in that list, although it, too, is less carefree than before: 25 per cent of Dutch buyers said they had no worries, compared to 34 per cent last time round.

At seventh place, with 15 per cent, India is the only Asian country on the list (the United Arab Emirates comes in at No. 3 with 18 per cent, but is part of the Europe and west Asia cluster).