On average, global web users across 10 countries spent roughly five and a half hours on social networks in February 2010, up more than two hours from the same time last year.

Based on the widest possible basket of product categories in Europe, the fourth quarter 2009 showed nominal growth, which has remained stable since the prior quarter, and around 3% for four consecutive quarters.

Global consumers are increasingly feeling confident about the economy and their finances. While Asia is leading the rebound, signs point to improved consumer behavior in other parts of the world.

Europe experienced a modest volume growth of 1% in the third quarter, down 0.9% compared to the prior quarter. However, this growth is still ahead of the United States.

Consumers in 10 of the world’s top economies continued to be wary of spending their money in May, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Economic Current, which provides a snapshot of global consumer and retail trends across 10 countries which represent nearly 65 percent of global GDP.  Tracking key performance indicators, Brazil and the U.K. led the pack with solid improvements in their scores, while the U.S. and Canada showed declines.  The rest of the countries tracked (China, France, Germany, India, Italy and Spain) showed no movement from …

For 25 years, Nielsen has organized what has become one of the most important business events in Italy.  The focus of L’Incontro Nielsen 2009, which was held late last month in Sardinia, was the economic crisis and possible solutions for recovery.
Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and an advisor to several heads of state, opened the event by outlining his views of the crises facing the world today: economic, energy and climate. The solution, Rifkin believes, is a third industrial revolution propelled by a hydrogen economy. …

Most global consumers agree that their countries have hit recession, but opinion on how long the recession will last remains mixed, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
While 53% of those surveyed by Nielsen think their country has hit a prolonged recession that will last more than 12 months, 18% of consumers, concentrated in a handful of emerging markets, like India, Vietnam, China, and Russia, told Nielsen they expect their countries to be out of recession within the next 12 months.
In contrast, consumers in Japan, Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, the U.S., and Spain were the …

The average European mobile consumer uses 1.4 SIM cards, according to a new report by Nielsen, released Wednesday. 
Mobile users who own multiple SIM cards are likely to spend more money on their mobile service, the findings also show. 
A French consumer who owns 3 SIM cards, for example, will spend 28% more, on average, than a consumer with a single SIM card.  Elsewhere in Europe, the numbers are even higher: +51% in Italy, +52% in the UK, +79% in Spain, and + 89% in Germany.
“The additional revenue brought to the operators by …