A majority of consumers expect to cut their household spending in 2023
With global growth forecast to slow to its third-weakest pace in nearly three decades, the world’s economy sits dangerously close to falling into recession. Despite projections of global inflation falling in 2023, the threat of stalled recovery - in the face of worsening debt stress and growing geopolitical tensions - still looms large; and respite from the on-going global cost-of-living crisis may yet be distant. Set against a backdrop of these uncertainties, a recent YouGov Surveys poll asked consumers if they expect to make cuts to their household spending over the next 12 months in response to rising inflation.
Data from the study reveals that a majority of consumers across all polled markets expect to cut back their household spending to some extent in 2023. On average, nearly two-thirds of consumers globally (64%) expect to make ‘large’ or ‘small’ cuts to their household spending as a result of rising inflation. But some households feel they will resist any economic crunch - nearly a fifth of consumers globally (19%) indicate that they will not have to make any cuts to their household spending.
Significantly outpacing the global average, four-fifths consumers in Poland (80%) and seven out of ten consumers in GB (71%) say they expect to make ‘large’ or ‘small’ cuts to household spending because of rising inflation. On the other hand, consumers in Sweden (27%) and Denmark (32%) are more confident than their other European neighbors that they will not have to make any cuts to their household expenditure over the next 12 months.
Nearly a third of consumers in the UAE (29%) expect to make large cuts to their household budget as a result of rising inflation compared to two-fifths (40%) who say they expect small cutbacks in a similar situation.
Looking at the APAC region, two out of three consumers in Australia (69%), Hong Kong (68%) and India (66%) say they are likely to make some level of cuts to their household spending because of higher inflation. Respondents is China, however, share opinions similar to their Nordic counterparts, with 26% saying they will not have to make any such cutbacks.
While two out of ten consumers in Canada (24%) and the US (20%) expect large inflation- led cutbacks to their household spending, their Mexican cohorts are far more likely to make smaller cuts in a similar situation (43%).
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 514 and 2,011 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in November 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.