March 8th, 2023, Janice Fernandes
Inflation rates are slowing down in 2023, but consumers around the world are continuing to feel the pinch of the rising cost of living to varying degrees. In which categories are Nordic consumers noticing an increase in prices?
Data from a recent YouGov survey shows that consumers in Sweden are slightly more likely than those in Denmark to notice price increases in every category.
Like in Britain and North America, Nordic consumers are most likely to notice an increase in the prices of groceries – Denmark (83%) and Sweden (84%).
Another area of major monthly expense is home energy bills. Over three-quarters of consumers in both Sweden (76%) and Denmark (77%) say they have noticed an increase in gas and electricity prices. Danish consumers may no longer feel the pinch of home energy bills after the recent price drop announcement.
Daily expenses like housing costs and fuel for motor vehicles round up the top four categories where consumers in the Nordics region are most likely noticing increased prices. Around two-thirds of Swedes say rent and mortgages (63%) and fuel (62%) prices have been rising. But in Denmark that share is much lower, with Danes more likely to notice an increase in the price of fuel (59%) than housing costs (46%).
The increased prices of clothes has not gone unnoticed in either market with around two in five consumers feeling the pinch (41% in Sweden; 39% in Denmark). Consumers also share opinions about the rising cost of health or pharmaceutical items (38% both).
Out-of-home entertainment such as cinema or music concerts (40% in Sweden; 39% in Denmark) and consumer electronics such as televisions, laptops, video games, and headphones (32%; 29%) register a significant share of consumers who say they have noticed price increases. Around a third of consumers in both countries say the same about media streaming services (30%; 33%).
While nearly a quarter of Swedes (23%) say they have noticed an increase in mobile phone network costs, the figure rises to 33% in Denmark. Video games have seen the lowest percentage of consumers noticing an increase in prices – 11% in Sweden and 8% in Denmark.
More than two in ten consumers in Sweden (24%) and Denmark (23%) say they’ve noticed an increase in hotel prices. But the global picture for travel in 2023 reveals the appetite for leisure travel is at its highest point now since the start of the pandemic.
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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 512 and 2027 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in January 2023. 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.
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