Half of the people who participated in a survey about expectations and intentions for 2024 admitted to being pessimistic or very pessimistic and the majority assume that they will have difficulty maintaining their standard of living.
The data comes from the most recent study by the Portuguese Society Observatory at the Catholic University of Lisbon, carried out between November 22nd and 29th, 2023 and with the participation of a thousand respondents, aged between 20 and 75 years old.
Regarding the degree of optimism regarding the year 2024, only 15,9% said they were optimistic or very optimistic about this year, with, on the other hand, 18,2% saying they were very pessimistic and 32,5% saying they were pessimistic. , which totals 50,7% of the sample.
When asked about the ease of maintaining their standard of living, the majority (53%) of respondents assumed that they will have difficulty, compared to 13% who believe that they will be able to maintain the standard of living they have had until now.
On the other hand, it is also the majority who admit to being worried or very worried about the increase in spending in all product categories, with the exception of non-food goods, such as clothing, footwear or technology, and it should be noted that «the two categories in in relation to which around half (50,9%) feel very concerned about the increase in costs are household food and expenses with rent/house loan installments (46,6%)».
«The vast majority of respondents feel worried or very worried about the increase in spending in 2024, highlighting the categories of household food spending (84.4%), energy spending (80%), fuel (75.6% ), house rent/loans (64.5%)”, states the study.
Regarding the question “to what extent do you think you will have to curb/reduce your consumption next year”, 39,5% stated that they will have to do so moderately, while 30,8% even say that they will have to reduce a lot.
Specifically regarding the areas in which the household considers saving, 73,5% choose to eat out, followed by 65,3% who choose to buy clothes, 56,8% who consider taking fewer trips, 52,9% who will buy fewer personal goods and 10,6% will reduce educational expenses.
«In the other category (5,5%), cultural and leisure activities, fuel and services were mentioned most frequently», he adds.
There are also 20,4% of respondents who believe that they will have difficulty meeting their financial commitments in 2024. The most mentioned categories were home loans (41,7%), personal or consumer credit (33,8%), housing rent (29,9%), payment for schools or extracurricular activities (25,5%), payment of loans to family members or acquaintances (26%) and others (8%).
However, «it is observed that the perceptions of pessimism and the need to reduce consumption were attenuated when comparing the responses for 2023 (measured in December 2022) and for 2024 (measured in November 2023)», he also states.
Comments