Inflation eclipses all other concerns for Germans - survey

Sharply increasing prices in almost all areas of life are at the top of people's concerns in Germany, according to a survey released on Saturday.

Even the war in Ukraine, climate change and the coronavirus were not as worrying as the rising cost of living, according to the survey published by the management consultancy McKinsey.

Around 57% of the more than 1,000 respondents said that their biggest concern at the moment was inflation, some 9 percentage points more than in a previous survey in June.

More than two-thirds of the respondents in the poll, conducted between September 23 and October 2, said they expected prices to continue rising.

By comparison, only 18% of respondents named the Ukraine war as their biggest concern, 6% climate change and 3% the Covid-19 pandemic.

"For more and more people in Germany, their wallets currently leave no room for consumption beyond what is absolutely necessary," reported McKinsey expert Marcus Jacob.

According to Jacob, more than a third of consumers are already having to limit their consumption of non-essential goods. More than half have stopped saving altogether.