This year, Czechs are spending more money on food, household items, and pets. On the other hand, they save on gifts and a little less. This is according to a comparison of the structure of spending by Creditas banking users, according to which rising prices are beginning to have a significant impact on consumer behavior.
“Compared to the first quarter of this year and last year, household-related spending increased the most, by 38 percent. The rise influences this in energy prices and the rise in prices of construction work and materials, furniture, and household equipment, ” said Petr Dufek, Creditas’ chief economist. Spending on food and pets increased by 14%.On the other hand, Czechs spent less money on gifts, by a quarter. They put aside 16% less money for savings.
Creditas automatically categorizes the spending made. This made it possible to compare the total payments volume in selected categories at the beginning of 2022 and 2021.
“Czechs continue to save above average, but the increase in savings was lower than the first quarter of last year. Of course, reducing the amount of money that can be saved at all in times of rising inflation plays a role in this. Some people are still hesitant to make longer-term investments due to the consequences of the situation in Ukraine and are focusing primarily on term or savings deposits, “Dufek pointed out.
He said the above-average growth in food spending, which far exceeds inflation, can be attributed to their rise in price and people returning to hypermarkets, where purchases fall into the “food” category. In the first quarter of 2021, lockdowns significantly curtailed purchases.
Inflation is changing consumer behavior
Overall, the data suggests that inflation is changing consumer behavior to a large extent and is likely to continue to do so. Households will spend more money on housing costs this year and probably next year, taking away from the money they have spent on things like leisure or savings.
The aggregate data reflects the actual spending of Creditas customers with current accounts, about 150,000 people across the country. While statisticians compare the price of the same consumer basket, where each item has its weight, the banking data shows how much more people are spending overall in each category.