Today, the Reserve Bank released the results of March 2025 round of its bi-monthly consumer confidence survey (CCS)1. The survey collects current perceptions (vis-à-vis a year ago) and one year ahead expectations of households on general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation, own income and spending across 19 major cities. The latest round of the survey was conducted during March 1-10, 2025, covering 6,021 respondents. Highlights: -
Consumer confidence for the current period strengthened, driven by broad-based improvements across all survey parameters. The Current Situation Index (CSI)2 rose by 1.8 points to 95.5 in March 2025 (Chart 1; Tables 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6). -
Households’ outlook for the year ahead remained firmly optimistic, with the Future Expectations Index (FEI) rising by 1.7 points to 122.4 in the latest survey round (Chart 1; Tables 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6). -
Pessimism on the prevailing employment situation eased in March 2025, while optimism about future job prospects remained strong (Table 2). -
Respondents reported reduced pessimism about both current and year-ahead price levels and inflation compared to the previous survey round (Tables 3 and 4). -
Households’ perception of income improved, returning to optimistic territory after four rounds of pessimistic net response. Income expectations remained upbeat (Table 5). Note: Please see the excel file for time series data3
| Table 1: Perceptions and Expectations on the General Economic Situation | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 41.2 | 23.1 | 35.8 | 5.4 | 60.7 | 15.8 | 23.4 | 37.3 | | May-24 | 40.0 | 22.6 | 37.4 | 2.6 | 59.0 | 15.6 | 25.4 | 33.5 | | Jul-24 | 36.3 | 22.4 | 41.3 | -5.0 | 55.0 | 16.0 | 29.0 | 26.1 | | Sep-24 | 37.3 | 21.1 | 41.6 | -4.4 | 55.5 | 16.0 | 28.6 | 26.9 | | Nov-24 | 35.8 | 21.3 | 42.9 | -7.1 | 54.9 | 17.2 | 27.9 | 27.0 | | Jan-25 | 34.9 | 22.1 | 43.0 | -8.0 | 55.2 | 15.8 | 29.0 | 26.2 | | Mar-25 | 34.7 | 24.7 | 40.6 | -5.9 | 56.6 | 14.9 | 28.5 | 28.0 |
| Table 2: Perceptions and Expectations on Employment | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 38.1 | 23.8 | 38.1 | -0.0 | 60.0 | 17.4 | 22.6 | 37.4 | | May-24 | 36.8 | 23.0 | 40.2 | -3.3 | 58.0 | 18.3 | 23.7 | 34.3 | | Jul-24 | 34.5 | 23.0 | 42.6 | -8.1 | 54.2 | 18.4 | 27.4 | 26.8 | | Sep-24 | 35.5 | 21.8 | 42.8 | -7.3 | 54.2 | 18.9 | 26.9 | 27.3 | | Nov-24 | 34.6 | 23.0 | 42.4 | -7.8 | 54.6 | 18.9 | 26.5 | 28.1 | | Jan-25 | 34.5 | 22.7 | 42.7 | -8.2 | 54.7 | 18.3 | 27.0 | 27.6 | | Mar-25 | 35.5 | 23.0 | 41.5 | -6.1 | 56.4 | 16.5 | 27.1 | 29.3 |
| Table 3: Perceptions and Expectations on Price Level | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 89.2 | 9.3 | 1.4 | -87.8 | 78.2 | 12.5 | 9.4 | -68.8 | | May-24 | 90.5 | 7.8 | 1.6 | -88.9 | 79.0 | 10.4 | 10.6 | -68.4 | | Jul-24 | 93.3 | 6.0 | 0.7 | -92.6 | 82.7 | 8.9 | 8.4 | -74.3 | | Sep-24 | 93.3 | 5.8 | 0.9 | -92.4 | 82.0 | 9.5 | 8.6 | -73.3 | | Nov-24 | 94.3 | 5.0 | 0.7 | -93.6 | 82.3 | 9.2 | 8.5 | -73.8 | | Jan-25 | 93.0 | 6.1 | 0.9 | -92.0 | 83.0 | 9.2 | 7.9 | -75.1 | | Mar-25 | 91.0 | 7.8 | 1.3 | -89.7 | 82.2 | 9.4 | 8.4 | -73.8 |
| Table 4: Perceptions and Expectations on Rate of Change in Price Level (Inflation)* | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 77.0 | 17.6 | 5.4 | -71.6 | 76.7 | 18.3 | 5.0 | -71.7 | | May-24 | 77.8 | 15.1 | 7.1 | -70.6 | 79.1 | 16.0 | 4.9 | -74.3 | | Jul-24 | 80.6 | 13.4 | 6.1 | -74.6 | 79.4 | 16.2 | 4.4 | -75.0 | | Sep-24 | 80.7 | 13.0 | 6.2 | -74.5 | 78.7 | 15.9 | 5.4 | -73.4 | | Nov-24 | 82.5 | 12.1 | 5.4 | -77.2 | 79.3 | 15.1 | 5.7 | -73.6 | | Jan-25 | 80.7 | 12.9 | 6.5 | -74.2 | 79.9 | 14.5 | 5.7 | -74.2 | | Mar-25 | 79.4 | 14.0 | 6.7 | -72.7 | 78.5 | 15.0 | 6.5 | -72.0 | | *Applicable only for those respondents who felt price has increased/price will increase. |
| Table 5: Perceptions and Expectations on Income | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 27.7 | 50.6 | 21.7 | 6.0 | 56.7 | 37.2 | 6.1 | 50.5 | | May-24 | 25.3 | 52.3 | 22.4 | 2.9 | 56.9 | 36.9 | 6.2 | 50.7 | | Jul-24 | 24.4 | 50.8 | 24.9 | -0.5 | 55.9 | 37.3 | 6.8 | 49.1 | | Sep-24 | 24.1 | 51.6 | 24.3 | -0.3 | 55.8 | 38.2 | 6.0 | 49.9 | | Nov-24 | 23.8 | 51.7 | 24.5 | -0.7 | 56.6 | 37.1 | 6.4 | 50.2 | | Jan-25 | 22.0 | 55.0 | 23.0 | -1.0 | 55.9 | 37.4 | 6.8 | 49.1 | | Mar-25 | 23.8 | 53.0 | 23.3 | 0.5 | 57.5 | 36.0 | 6.5 | 51.0 |
| Table 6: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 73.1 | 23.1 | 3.8 | 69.2 | 73.9 | 21.7 | 4.3 | 69.6 | | May-24 | 76.2 | 20.1 | 3.8 | 72.5 | 77.9 | 18.1 | 4.0 | 73.9 | | Jul-24 | 78.9 | 18.0 | 3.1 | 75.8 | 79.5 | 16.5 | 3.9 | 75.6 | | Sep-24 | 80.4 | 16.9 | 2.7 | 77.6 | 79.6 | 16.9 | 3.6 | 76.0 | | Nov-24 | 80.9 | 17.2 | 1.9 | 79.0 | 80.8 | 16.4 | 2.8 | 78.0 | | Jan-25 | 79.3 | 19.4 | 1.3 | 77.9 | 78.8 | 18.3 | 2.9 | 75.9 | | Mar-25 | 80.1 | 18.8 | 1.2 | 78.9 | 79.6 | 18.0 | 2.4 | 77.2 |
| Table 7: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending- Essential Items | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 84.5 | 13.0 | 2.5 | 82.0 | 82.5 | 14.5 | 3.0 | 79.5 | | May-24 | 85.6 | 11.8 | 2.7 | 82.9 | 84.7 | 12.3 | 3.1 | 81.6 | | Jul-24 | 87.3 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 85.1 | 85.0 | 12.1 | 2.9 | 82.0 | | Sep-24 | 87.9 | 10.3 | 1.8 | 86.2 | 84.9 | 12.4 | 2.7 | 82.2 | | Nov-24 | 88.6 | 9.7 | 1.7 | 86.9 | 85.9 | 11.5 | 2.6 | 83.3 | | Jan-25 | 87.6 | 10.9 | 1.6 | 86.0 | 85.1 | 12.3 | 2.6 | 82.5 | | Mar-25 | 87.4 | 12.0 | 0.6 | 86.9 | 86.2 | 12.1 | 1.8 | 84.4 |
| Table 8: Perceptions and Expectations on Spending- Non-Essential Items | | (Percentage responses) | | Survey Round | Current Perception | One year ahead Expectation | | Increased | Remained Same | Decreased | Net Response | Will Increase | Will Remain Same | Will Decrease | Net Response | | Mar-24 | 29.2 | 37.6 | 33.2 | -4.1 | 35.7 | 37.6 | 26.7 | 9.0 | | May-24 | 30.5 | 35.4 | 34.1 | -3.7 | 37.4 | 35.2 | 27.4 | 9.9 | | Jul-24 | 29.0 | 36.7 | 34.4 | -5.4 | 37.4 | 35.6 | 27.0 | 10.3 | | Sep-24 | 27.6 | 40.2 | 32.3 | -4.7 | 36.4 | 37.8 | 25.8 | 10.6 | | Nov-24 | 30.2 | 37.2 | 32.6 | -2.4 | 38.4 | 35.0 | 26.6 | 11.8 | | Jan-25 | 29.2 | 38.5 | 32.3 | -3.1 | 37.4 | 36.1 | 26.5 | 11.0 | | Mar-25 | 28.5 | 40.9 | 30.7 | -2.2 | 37.7 | 37.7 | 24.6 | 13.1 |
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