Fewer than a quarter of consumers feel they’ll be in a position to make big purchases this year

A lot of us dream of owning our own home and buying a swanky new car. But how many of us feel we’ll actually be in a position to realize those big-purchase dreams this year?

Fewer than a quarter of consumers across 17 international markets say they are likely to be in such a position, polling data from a recent YouGov survey reveals. A larger proportion of them (45%) say they are unlikely to be in a position to make a large purchase such as a house or a car, in the coming months.

Among those that think they will be able to make big purchases in the near future, men are more likely than women to do so (26% vs 20%).

Conversely, 47% of women say they are unlikely to be in such a position, compared to 42% of men.

Data reported from individual markets reveals that consumers in the UAE (46%) are most likely to say they will be in a position to make a big purchase in the next 12 months. At 30%, Mexico is at a distant second. Danes (24%) and Americans (21%) follow.

As for those who feel they are unlikely to be in such a position this year, Italians lead (57%), followed by Spaniards (54%) and Poles (43%). In Great Britain, more than half of all consumers (52%) feel the same. On a side note, Britons are the least likely across markets to say they intend to buy a new car this year, data from another YouGov survey reveals.

Finally, consumers in Italy (22%) and the USA (22%) account for the largest proportion of those who feel they’re neither likely nor unlikely to be in a position to splurge on big purchases this year.

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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 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 500 and 2001 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in November 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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