* Optimism due to new constitution
* Fall in crime improves sales
NAIROBI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Kenyan retailers' confidence ticked up in the third quarter, with businesses expressing optimism about the country's future following the enactment of a new constitution, a survey showed on Thursday.
TNS Research International's quarterly survey showed its retailer confidence index rose to 150.7 in September from 113.7 in June.
"There is a continued increase in optimism among retailers about the future of Kenya, which may have been stimulated by the ratification of the new constitution coupled with political stability," TNS said in a statement.
"It appears there is a general decline in criminal activities in both urban areas and rural areas suggesting improved sale and profitability of retail business," it said.
TNS launched the retailer confidence index, often a good indicator of the health of an economy, in October 2009. The latest survey was conducted among 500 retailers, mainly owners or managers of retail businesses.
Kenyans endorsed a new constitution in a referendum last month, which they hope will address issues such as corruption, political patronage, land grabbing and tribalism, which have plagued east Africa's biggest economy.
Eighty-nine percent of rural and 86 percent of urban respondents said they expected business conditions to improve in the next six months.
The proportion of retailers who said they had been asked for a bribe in the past three months fell to 17 percent from 25 percent, the survey showed. "This implies a decrease in corruption in both urban and rural areas," it said.
Kenya was for years ranked as the most corrupt nation in east Africa by corruption watchdog Transparency International, but it fell to third place behind Burundi and Uganda in 2010.
A separate TNS consumer confidence survey last month showed a 21 point rise in the index to 136 in August, from 115 in June and 120 in March 2010.
"Corrupt officials and ineffective leaders were the greatest worry for retailers who are pessimistic about the future of Kenya," TNS said. (Reporting by Wangui Kanina; editing by George Obulutsa and Tim Pearce)