In Latin American countries, led by Argentina and Colombia (with 79% and 75% of interviewees), the perception of the effects of inflation is very high. Similar numbers also come out of Turkey (75%), Russia (74%), Poland (73%), South Africa (73%), and Hungary (66%). Consumers who have the clearest sense of rising prices are women, on average (60%), and older (50-74), more affluent people. In contrast, the level of education doesn’t seem to affect the findings.
Poland is the country where the most consumers say they’ve seen higher prices in transportation (83%), followed by Chile, Hungary, South Africa and Russia (81%). As for medical and healthcare costs, at a global level, 51% has seen them go up, but this is less than other cost categories: food and beverage (70%), transportation (70%), utilities (66%), and clothing (55%).
At an international level, 42% of interviewees say that their total household spending, excluding vacations, will change in the near future. Younger, higher-income respondents were the ones who most often reported this perception, but with significant divergence from country to country. Heading the ranking is Romania (62%), followed by Argentina (61%) and South Arica (56%); while the Dutch (28%), the Italians (27%) and the Japanese (16%) who were surveyed seem more inclined to maintain their household spending at the same level.
As far as Italy, on average 54% of Italians perceived a price rise, mainly with regard to transportation (73% of interviewees), groceries (62%), utilities (73%) and clothing (49%). As for family expenses, in the coming months only 27% of Italians think that these costs will rise, while 58% say prices will stay the same and 14% think they will go down – opinions that run counter to the world average.
The Ipsos survey also found that Japan is the only country with a very low perception of inflation: 21% compared to the global average of 59%.