European Shoppers Hunt for Bargains Amid Rising Economic and Political Pessimism
BCG's Survey of Over 16,000 European Consumers Finds 54% Are Pessimistic About Their Country's Economy and 52% Worry Daily About Their Personal Finances
Consumers Cut Back on Discretionary Spending; Expect to Increase Spending on Two Fronts: Essentials and Luxury
Online Shopping, Sustainability, and Deal-Seeking Reshape Consumer Preferences and Expectations
BOSTON, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- European consumers are navigating 2025 with growing unease, reevaluating their spending priorities due to economic, political, and environmental concerns. According to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), more than half (54%) of surveyed European consumers are pessimistic about the economy in their home country—a 7 point increase since July 2024. Meanwhile, 52% worry daily about their personal finances—a 9 point increase from last year.
These findings are part of BCG's latest European Consumer Sentiment Report, titled European Consumers Brace for More Uncertainty, based on an April survey of over 16,000 consumers across nine countries. The study reveals a widespread shift toward financial caution and value-driven spending.
In addition to economic unease, political anxieties run high, with 57% of Europeans expressing pessimism. But anxiety isn't felt equally: over 73% of consumers in France, 71% in Romania, and 70% in Spain feel pessimistic, compared with just 38% in Scandinavia. The impact of tariffs remains a lesser concern, cited by only 30% of consumers—lower than the 42% of consumers concerned about sustainability and climate change.
"Across Europe, consumers are becoming more selective and deal-driven," said Andreas Malby, leader of BCG's Consumer practice in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America, and a coauthor of the report. "With consumers scrutinizing every purchase, brands are now competing on trust, ethics, and value for money."
The Hunt for Deals Intensifies
Good value for money is the most important purchasing factor in all nine countries surveyed; cited by 59% of consumers. The ability to save and low prices ranked second and third; cited by 48% and 47% of shoppers, respectively.
Consumers are cutting back on discretionary items such as apparel (-22% net spending), alcohol (-18%), and snacks (-15%). Spending on household essentials, however, has risen, driven largely by inflation rather than volume.
Luxury fashion is bucking the downward trend. High-income consumers and luxury buyers plan to increase spending in this category in the next six months.
What Consumers Are Looking For
As consumers weather economic uncertainty, they're adjusting their spending priorities and expectations:
Physical Stores Aren't Disappearing Just Yet. Compared with 2024, consumers report a modest drop in online shopping as they curb spending on discretionary items. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of consumers deem physical stores essential, indicating a preference toward integrated shopping experiences across channels.
Two-day Delivery Is Becoming the Expectation. For categories such as groceries and alcohol, 83% and 71% of consumers expect two-day delivery respectively. Scandinavian consumers, however, are more likely to have lower expectations for delivery speed compared with other European markets.
Amid Sustainability Concerns, Consumers Buy Second Hand. Nearly half (45%) consider sustainability when shopping (up 5 percentage points), but only 17% are willing to pay a premium. More consumers are turning to secondhand shopping in response to sustainability concerns. Approximately 20% of European consumers regularly buy apparel, toys, luxury fashion, and furniture second hand. Rates are notably higher in Scandinavia (25% to 35%) than in Spain and Italy (10% to 15%).
Before Buying, Consumers Weigh Ethical Implications. More than one-third of consumers say they boycott brands for ethical or political reasons, up 6 percentage points from last year. This shift signals that brands must appeal not only to consumers' wallets, but to their values.
"This is a defining moment for consumer companies," Malby said. "Brands should make bold portfolio and pricing decisions while planting seeds for the future. Although the current climate is challenging, growth will return—companies should manage for both today and a brighter tomorrow."
Download the publication here:https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/europeans-brace-for-more-uncertainty
Country-level insights are available for Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Media Contact:Eric Gregoire+1 617 850 3783gregoire.eric@bcg.com
About Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.
Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/european-shoppers-hunt-for-bargains-amid-rising-economic-and-political-pessimism-302477049.html
SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
European leaders seek ‘digital sovereignty' over tech infrastructure
June 21 (UPI) -- Leaders of many European nations say they need to do more to develop technological infrastructure to ensure digital sovereignty instead of relying on services from global tech firms. A recent forum discussion on the market dominance of global corporations assessed the "blurring of the boundaries between economic and political control" among European nations by tech firms. A consensus of attendees at the ongoing Berlin Summit 2025 agreed European nations need to coordinate their efforts to develop infrastructures to "avoid path dependencies and long-term dependence on global platform players," Forum New Economy reported on Friday. "European countries are highly dependent on companies from the USA and China in a variety of technological infrastructures, from cloud services and social media to generative artificial intelligence," Forum New Economy reported. Such companies dominate European markets and are increasing their control of digital infrastructures, innovation networks, supply chains, data flows and research agendas. An example is Microsoft earlier this year suspending the business email account for International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan. The action occurred within months of the ICC issuing a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the tech firm suspended Khan's ICC email account, Microsoft officials said it still is providing services for the ICC. The company also announced their intent to support the digital sovereignty of European nations. "We've operated in Europe for more than 40 years, and we have been and always will be a steadfast partner to Europe," Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a social media post on Friday. Microsoft is supporting European sovereignty and that of its respective nations with several existing and new tech offerings, Nadella said. The services include Microsoft Sovereign Cloud, Data Guardian, External Key Management and Sovereign Private Cloud. The existing and new offerings "bring digital sovereignty to all European organizations" and"unlock new sovereign ways to run private sovereign clouds," Nadella said. "These new offerings build on decades of pioneering work in sovereign cloud solutions by ourselves and to our partners," he added. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
European leaders seek 'digital sovereignty' over tech infrastructure
1 of 3 | Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive officer of NVIDIA, unveils the latest RTX 5070 laptop processors on stage during the 2025 International CES at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on January 6. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI | License Photo June 21 (UPI) -- Leaders of many European nations say they need to do more to develop technological infrastructure to ensure digital sovereignty instead of relying on services from global tech firms. A recent forum discussion on the market dominance of global corporations assessed the "blurring of the boundaries between economic and political control" among European nations by tech firms. A consensus of attendees at the ongoing Berlin Summit 2025 agreed European nations need to coordinate their efforts to develop infrastructures to "avoid path dependencies and long-term dependence on global platform players," Forum New Economy reported on Friday. "European countries are highly dependent on companies from the USA and China in a variety of technological infrastructures, from cloud services and social media to generative artificial intelligence," Forum New Economy reported. Such companies dominate European markets and are increasing their control of digital infrastructures, innovation networks, supply chains, data flows and research agendas. An example is Microsoft earlier this year suspending the business email account for International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan. The action occurred within months of the ICC issuing a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Although the tech firm suspended Khan's ICC email account, Microsoft officials said it still is providing services for the ICC. The company also announced their intent to support the digital sovereignty of European nations. "We've operated in Europe for more than 40 years, and we have been and always will be a steadfast partner to Europe," Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in a social media post on Friday. Microsoft is supporting European sovereignty and that of its respective nations with several existing and new tech offerings, Nadella said. The services include Microsoft Sovereign Cloud, Data Guardian, External Key Management and Sovereign Private Cloud. The existing and new offerings "bring digital sovereignty to all European organizations" and"unlock new sovereign ways to run private sovereign clouds," Nadella said. "These new offerings build on decades of pioneering work in sovereign cloud solutions by ourselves and to our partners," he added.
Hamilton Spectator
5 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Canada-Europe security and defence pact to be signed Monday in Brussels
OTTAWA - A security and defence partnership pact Prime Minister Mark Carney will sign with European leaders in Brussels on Monday will be among the most wide-ranging agreements with a third country Europe has ever reached, a senior EU official said on Friday. Carney is flying to Europe Sunday for a Canada — EU Summit, planned for Monday evening with European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. At the G7 summit in Alberta on Monday von der Leyen confirmed that the agreement will be signed on Monday in Brussels, calling Canada a 'key partner.' 'This is also a moment where we can strengthen Canada's role in Europe's rapidly evolving defence architecture,' said Von der Leyen on June 16. In a briefing to Canadian and European reporters on Friday, a senior European official said there will be two main outcomes from the summit — a joint statement that expresses views on global issues, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the signing of the 'EU Canada Security and Defence Partnership Agreement.' 'This is an ambitious one,' the official said. 'And actually we've had this with a number of global partners, but the one with Canada would be one of the most far reaching of its kind that the EU has ever signed with a third country. It will open up new avenues for joint work on crisis management, military mobility, maritime security, cyber and cyber threats, and defence industrial co-operation.' Carney has been clear that he intends to expand Canada's ties with Europe as its relationship with the United States strains under the weight of tariffs and threats of annexation. Within two days of being sworn in as prime minister in March Carney flew to Europe, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. It was during those meetings that he seriously began talking about signing on to Europe's new defence procurement plan known as ReArm Europe. In the throne speech on May 27, Carney's government pledged to join that program, and he told the CBC in an interview that same day he expected Canada to do that by July 1. On June 9, Carney announced a massive investment in Canada's defence budget to push Canada above the two per cent of GDP NATO target this country has promised — and failed — to meet for more than a decade. Joining ReArm Europe is part of that plan, with Carney repeatedly saying Canada can no longer put all its defence spending into the U.S. 'We are in close discussions with our European partners to join ReArm Europe,' he said on June 9. 'That will be an element of diversification. That's just smart. It's better to be diversified. It's better to have options. It's better to have different supply chains and broader partners.' The agenda for the summit posted by the European Council says the security and defence procurement agreement will allow Canada to join a European loan program for joint defence projects. That 150-billion euro program — called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE — is part of the ReArm Europe initiative. The EU official said on Friday that once the procurement agreement is in place, Canada will have to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the European Commission to begin discussions with member states about procurement opportunities. Leaders at the EU-Canada summit are also expected to discuss global trade and the wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East. They will also commit to fully ratifying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Canada-Europe free trade agreement known as CETA. Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, said Carney also should put the 'pedal to the metal' on ratifying CETA. The deal entered into force provisionally in 2017, but several EU member states still need to ratify CETA at the national level. 'The real challenge there is to get Canadian businesses and also European businesses to take it up … and to start doing more business across the Atlantic, but that also requires political leadership,' Hampson said. 'It hasn't been fully ratified but that's something (Carney) can perhaps impress upon the Europeans.' After Brussels, Carney will travel to The Hague for the NATO leaders' summit, where discussions are expected to push forward on increasing the NATO members' defence spending target as high as five per cent of GDP, from the current two per cent. — With files from Kyle Duggan, Dylan Robertson and The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
