According to the latest Global State of the Consumer Tracker survey by advisory firm Deloitte, the percentage of consumers claiming that they will not be able to cope with upcoming obligations has decreased slightly, but more estimate that their financial situation has worsened in the last year and already half of them are postponing major expenditures.

The 37th Deloitte’s Global State of the Consumer Tracker, conducted at the end of November 2022, shows that there has been no change in the percentage (32 %) of surveyed Poles declaring optimism about the possibility of improving their financial condition during the year. However, the overall assessment of the situation over the past twelve months has worsened. This is now the view of 62 % of respondents – an increase of 2 % compared to October. Half of the respondents  47 %) would put off major expenses and only 23 % (down 1 %) would cope with sudden and significant expenses they did not expect.

In contrast, respondents declare improved sentiment in terms of being able to cope with upcoming payments (37 %, up 1 %) and expect an increase in income next year (40 %, up 1 %).

“We are observing variable consumer attitudes to assessing inflationary dynamics. Throughout the year, indications of fears for price rises oscillated around 80 % in Poland. In September, the percentage of Poles declaring worries about rising prices dropped sharply to 59 per cent and, after a temporary rebound to 67 per cent in October, it now stands at only 60 per cent again. The question is whether such a trend means that consumers are becoming accustomed to the volatility of inflation and, consequently, whether they are really less and less afraid of it”, said Przemysław Szczygielski, Deloitte’s financial services leader in Poland.

Adrian Andrzejewski