Mumbai: Consumers in India are the most optimistic while consumer confidence in Hong Kong is at an all-time high, a survey by The Nielsen Company showed.

Scandinavian consumers were also bullish, while Japanese, South Koreans and Hungarians were among the most pessimistic consumers, the survey, which gauges consumers'' outlook for the next 12 months, said.

India came first with 135 points (in a scale of 200), followed by Norway with 132 points and Denmark with 127 points, although all three scores were down 1-2 points from six months ago.

Hong Kong ranked fifth with Vietnam at 118, just behind New Zealand at 120, but Hong Kong''s score surged 7 points from six months ago to a record high and marked the biggest jump in confidence of all 47 markets. Sweden''s score rose 6 points to 107.

Consumer sentiment in the US, the world''s biggest economy, dipped 2 points from a previous survey taken in November to 106. However, that was still better than most other countries and on a par with China, whose score was unchanged.

The Nielsen Company''s Global Consumer Confidence Index, scored an average reading of 97 points, down slightly from 99 in the November survey.

Hong Kong consumers have been buoyed by rising wages, a strong stock market and a drop in unemployment to an 8-year low of 4.3 per cent.

South Korea in contrast was just at 50 and down six points from the previous survey. Confidence in Japan also dropped, by 3 points to 68, despite signs of an improving economy. Taiwan''s ranking fell 5 points to 75.

Hungary and Portugal had scores of 66 and 51, respectively. Hungary fell 9 points in the index from six months ago while Portugal slumped by 14 points.

Thailand suffered the biggest drop in consumer confidence, by 15 points from six months ago to 92.

The survey was based on a series of questions to consumers. The survey, conducted in the last two weeks of April, polled more than 26,000 Internet users in 47 markets worldwide.