Ipsos Cost of Living Monitor
Welcome to the sixth edition of the Ipsos Cost of Living Monitor, a 32-country survey which tracks how people around the world feel about their finances during the polycrisis.
Around the world inflation rates in many countries are beginning to fall and people are starting to notice. But a feel good factor is a long way away. In our tracking research, most consumers still “feel” higher prices. Even in the most optimistic parts of the world, barely a quarter tell us they are “living comfortably”./span>
So while we began 2024 with people less worried than they were about rising interest rates, in the second quarter of year, forecasts for rate cuts are being pushed further ahead and central bankers are not ruling out further rate increases.
At the same time, in many countries, the proportion “finding it difficult” to manage their finances remains as high as ever. Many people don’t think they will have more money to spend any time soon. For every person who says their disposable income will rise over the next year, we find another who expects it to fall.
Overall, there is generally a clear correlation between GDP per capita and how people feel right now, with less optimism in the less affluent countries.
As we approach the halfway point in what has been called the biggest election year ever, cost-of-living concerns, and governments’ handling of it, are often the defining issue in the minds of voters. The challenge for politicians, even as economies improve, is translating this into a public recognition of progress.
In the US, with November’s election fast-approaching, many Americans still feel cost of living is a huge problem, whatever the more positive macro-economic indicators may say. The polarisation of the political debate and of media coverage, may explain this. As the Financial Times has recently reminded us, there is far more coverage of rising prices when they are high than when they are low, and Republican voters will be exposed to more negative news than Democrats.
In America, despite the relative strength of the economy, political belief seems to now trump economic facts when consumers judge the economy.
This separation of reality from perception is something Ipsos has measured for over a decade, but whereas it has always applied to crime, to see it so starkly visible on economic progress and numbers like inflation is something relatively new.
In the following pages, we highlight some of the key themes from the data, followed by the results for all 32 countries in the survey. There is much food for thought – including how people’s on the ground experiences collide with today’s national economic statistics. We look forward to discussing with you what it all means for your country, category or industry sector.