To celebrate the launch of YouGov’s new European Political monthly survey, a new YouGov study of nine EU countries – Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain – examines how many people have been affected by the rising cost of living, and their economic expectations.
How many Europeans see the cost of living as a top issue facing their country?
Cost of living concerns consistently rank close to the top, although only in France do they take the very top spot. Overall, between 28-49% listing the cost of living as a top issue facing their country, with “the economy” also cited by between 13-34%. In Spain, the not-unrelated issue of housing comes top, at 53%, a significantly higher rate than other countries.
Note, this question was not asked in the Netherlands or Romania
How many Europeans have been impacted by the rising cost of living?
The large majority across the nine countries surveyed are feeling the pinch, with between 75% and 91% saying that prices in shops are rising faster than their incomes.
As a result, at least almost half in each country say that they’ve had to make cuts to their spending, rising to as high as 72% in Romania.
The majority in each country believe they will have to make cuts to the spending in future (51-74%, with Romania again being the most likely to think so), with an unfortunate 31-58% across each country saying they have both made cuts already and imagine they will have to do so again in due course.
Do Europeans think their government and the EU are doing enough on the cost of living?
Unsurprisingly, therefore, large majorities in each country (73-86%) say that their national government should be doing more on the cost of living. Indeed, the majority also say the EU should be taking greater action on the cost of living too (54-79%).
What are economic expectations on the continent?
The outlook on the wider economy is gloomy across much of the continent, with pluralities or majorities in all countries except Denmark expecting their nation will be in a depression or recession 12 months from now. Danes by contrast are more likely to think the economy will remain stable over the next year (at 42%).
See individual country results for...
Learn more about YouGov's new European Political monthly survey product
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Photo: Getty
