Vietnamese consumers are the most careful compared to their global peers when it comes to saving for a rainy day, findings from a consumer confidence report show.

More than two thirds of consumers in Vietnam, or 78 percent, put their spare cash into savings, according to a Nielsen report released Wednesday.

Nielsen said in its report that this is the highest percentage in the world.

The Q1/2015 Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Report also found that consumers in Southeast Asia are diligent savers, with an overwhelming majority, 71 percent, intending to build savings funds from their spare cash after they have covered their essential living expenses.

This represents an increase of two points quarter-on-quarter and nine points compared to the same time a year ago, according to the report.

The Nielsen report only counts Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam as Southeast Asian countries.

Southeast Asia includes the six countries, and Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, and Brunei. 

Those who do not save their spare money use it to go on vacation and buy hi-tech devices, according to the report.

Forty-four percent of Vietnamese consumers spend their spare cash on holidays, and 40 percent on hi-tech purchases.

Eighty-six percent of Vietnamese consumers have changed their household spending habits over the past 12 months to save more, with more than half of them believing the country is in an economic depression, according to the report.

The report found that 62 percent of Vietnamese consumers have cut spending for new clothes, whereas 61 percent try to get smaller electricity and gas bills.

Fifty-seven percent have reduced the amount of money spent on family entertainment activities, and 44 percent have delayed their plans to buy new major appliances.

Vietnam scored a confidence index of 112 in the first quarter of this year, up six points from the previous three-month period and the highest since Q4/2010, according to Nielsen.

Vietnamese consumers thus join those in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand to be “the most optimistic consumers in the world,” the report said.

The global consumer confidence index in Q1/2015 scored 97, up one point from Q4/2014.

“Compared to the end of last year, when all regional confidence scores declined, it was a more upbeat start to the year 2015, as confidence increased slightly or remained stable in every region except Latin America,” the report said.

Consumer confidence rose one point in Asia-Pacific, posting the highest quarterly regional index score of 107, while North America held steady at 106.

Confidence in the Middle East/Africa (96) and Europe (77) edged up one point in the first quarter, but dropped two points in Latin America (86) – the region’s lowest score since 2011.

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