Nordea survey: Finns plan to eat cheaper food next year

Growing concern over price rises

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Thanks to early sales, Christmas shopping is proceeding as quickly as before, but a forecast by Nordea Bank suggests that retail activities might slow down considerably early in the year.
     
According to a fresh study by Nordea Bank, more than half of Finns plan to pay more attention to their personal spending next year.
      The study was conducted in the form of online interviews with 1,000 people in Finland between the ages of 16 and 65.
     About 40 per cent expect to consume less.
     
Ways to economise include using less heating and electricity. Nordea economist Tarja Svartström has an explanation for this.
      “It is a very concrete way to do something, and immediately get the feeling that saving is taking place, when you switch off a light, reduce the temperature, exchange incandescent bulbs for low-energy lights, and go to the sauna less often than before. In addition, very clear instructions have been given for saving on energy”, Svartström says.
     
Another way to save is to spend less on food. Eating is a daily activity, and comparing prices is easy. In order to save, consumers can go for cheaper alternatives within the same group of products.
     “Or even if someone wants to keep eating goat cheese on weekends, during the week people might stick to Edam.”
     However, Svartström says that Finns are not likely to stop consuming completely - only to consider options more carefully than before. She does not expect any radical changes.
     
Finns are increasingly concerned about higher prices. Compared with a previous study from March last year, this concern has increased in November.
      The rise in prices of energy and food, and the increase in various fees linked with environmental change. The higher cost of fuel is a concern, but with petrol prices coming down recently, the worry is not as great as it was last spring.
     
There is growing concern about possible changes to the social welfare system. One reason for this is that job cuts and layoffs have increased from the spring.
     There has been talk of whether or not income-linked unemployment benefits should be reduced.
     Unemployment and loss of income was a matter of fairly great or very great concern for 37 per cent of those surveyed.
     
People are less concerned about the decline in the price of housing. Although concern has increased, only 19 per cent said that the issue was important for them. In the spring, the figure was 10 per cent.
     “This would seem to concern only those who are planning to move house. I don’t think that those who have just bought a first home at a high price, are actually worried - merely upset”, Svartström says.
     
Older age groups are the most likely to cut back on consumption. Svartström notes that younger people often have more mandatory expenditures, such as child daycare fees, which are hard to cut back on.
     According to the survey, women are considerably more worried than men about their personal finances, and more willing to reduce consumption and to save money. only in one respect are men’s intentions to cut costs higher than those for women: men are more willing to cut back on recreational activities for their children.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  PTT predicts more increases in food prices in the New Year (13.11.2008)
  Bank survey forecasts Finns could spend 20% less on Christmas than last year (27.11.2008)

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