CONSUMER confidence in Singapore has sunk to the lowest in more than three years as the economy enters its first recession since 2002, a survey has found.

The Nielsen Company, a marketing and media information provider, on Wednesday said that the Singapore confidence index is at an 'all-time low' of 92 points since it started the twice-yearly survey in the first half of 2005.

In contrast, exactly a year ago, consumer confidence was at an all-time high at 114 points.

In August, the consumer confidence level registered its first drop of 12 points, from 114 to 102. This is the second time this year Singapore has recorded a double digit decline in consumer confidence.

'For global consumers, the last 12 months have been challenging and turbulent - Singapore is no exception with an economy that is closely intertwined with the world's demand', said Ms Vicky Santos, executive director of The Nielsen Company Singapore.

Nielsen polled more than 26,000 consumers in 52 countries in September and October, including 500 Internet users in Singapore.

Singapore's economy contracted for a second straight quarter in the three months to September as a slowdown in the United States, Europe and Japan cut demand for the nation's exports.

Singapore's gross domestic product also fell an annualised 6.3 per cent last quarter from the second quarter, after shrinking 5.7 per cent in the previous three months, according to the median estimate of 10 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Compared to previous downturns, the turmoil this time is likely to have a serious impact on lifestyle and cultural factors of consumers, said Nielsen.

'Staying In has become the new Going Out for a new breed of credit crunch consumers', said Ms Santos.

Indeed, 'staycations' - a portmanteau coined in the US of staying at, or near, home on vacation - seem to catching on here too, as hard economic times have led to high unemployment levels and fuel prices.

Singaporeans, avid travellers who still want to enjoy the annual overseas trip, have ranked spending on holidays second on their list if they have extra cash to spend.

Top on the list is putting the dough into their savings nest, said seven out of 10 polled.

The survey also found that about six out of 10 Singaporeans will spend less on new clothes, as well as save on gas and electricity, to cope with the rising cost of living in the coming months.

A clear indication that extravagant spending sprees are not on the cards this Christmas season: Nearly half of Singaporeans surveyed described the state of their personal finances as 'not so good' or 'bad'.

About half will also cut down on out-of-home entertainment, switch to cheaper grocery brands and put off that brand-new technology purchase.