Dubai, Nov 10 (IANS) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has registered a record surge in consumer confidence in the third quarter of 2009, WAM news agency reported Tuesday.
At 102 points, the UAE enjoys higher consumer confidence than the global average of 86 - representing a rise of 13 points over six months in the latest Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, conducted in 54 markets during September and October 2009.

Nielsen’s Global Consumer Confidence Index tracked consumer confidence, major concerns and spending habits among more than 30,500 Internet users in 54 countries. In the latest round of the survey, Vietnam posted the largest consumer confidence increase in the 2nd half of 2009 compared to first half, up 24 points from 85 to 109 index points, followed by Hong Kong (+23 points) and Chile (+22 points).

The most pessimistic nations were Latvia and Japan. Consumer confidence rose in 45 out of the 54 countries surveyed.