More than half of European consumers are now worried about their personal finances, and they’re doing the most rational thing possible in response: closing their wallets. The problem is that when hundreds of millions of people do that simultaneously, it becomes an economic headache that central bankers can’t easily fix.
Euro area inflation climbed to 3.2% in May, up from 3.0% the prior month. Energy prices, the primary culprit, have surged more than 10%. That combination of rising costs and consumer retreat has the European Commission projecting GDP growth of just 1.1% for the year.
The fear factor is measurable
A BCG survey of more than 20,000 consumers across 11 European countries found that 53% are worried about their personal finances. For context, that figure was 40% in 2024. A 13-percentage-point jump in financial anxiety over roughly two years isn’t a blip. It’s a trend.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed are actively trying to reduce their spending.
