69% globally expect inflation to continue to rise in 2023: Survey

Seventy-nine per cent of workers are expecting their real income to fall in 2023.

Ipsos, an acronym of Institut Public de Sondage d'Opinion Secteur, is a multinational market research and consulting firm headquartered in Paris.

The COVID-19 pandemic is seen as less of a cause of inflation. The same number of people blame excessive business profits (62 per cent) as blame coronavirus (61 per cent) for the rising cost of living.

One in three (32 per cent) globally expect their standard of living to fall, a figure unchanged from earlier waves. Negativity about their current situation is highest among Europeans. One in two in Turkey (52 per cent), Hungary (50 per cent), Poland (48 per cent), Belgium and Great Britain (both 47 per cent) think their standard of living will go down, an Ipsos release said.

More than one in two in Great Britain (58 per cent), Ireland (56 per cent) and Belgium (51 per cent) feel like they will have less disposable income next year. Thirty-seven per cent globally think the money they have in their pocket after paying bills will decline.

While many western markets have seen historically low rates of unemployment in 2022, there is a growing expectation that 2023 will be a different story. Six in ten (61 per cent) think the number of people out of work in their country will rise over the next year, a figure that is up five percentage points since June.

Four in ten (38 per cent) workers expect their pay not to rise in the next year to help cope with rising prices (38 per cent). A third (33 per cent) are expecting a pay rise but at lower than the rate of inflation in their country.

Expectation of a pay rise below inflation is highest in Argentina (59 per cent) and Turkey (49 per cent), two countries with extremely high inflation. Argentina’s rate of inflation was 88 per cent in October, while Turkey’s rate was 85.4 per cent. Expectation of an at or above inflation pay rise is highest in Colombia and Brazil

Over four in ten (43 per cent) workers globally say they are certain/likely to look for a job with a new employer in the next 12 months. Likelihood to look for new work is lowest in Europe, with Romania (42 per cent) the highest figure in the region.

Back on a global scale, more than one in two of those likely to look for a new job are expecting a reduction in their pay or that their salary will stay the same.

Inflation is perceived as being a global problem, with the state of the global economy (74 per cent) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (70 per cent) seen as the primary causes of rising prices.

Five countries selected their government’s policies as the biggest factor in causing inflation. Eighty-four per cent in Great Britain say this is the case.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)