Nearly a third of Irish consumers worry they aren’t saving enough in the face of inflation.

In a recent study by Bank of Ireland, inflation and the cost of living crisis is what consumers are currently worrying about the most. Issues such as the war in Ukraine, as well as coronavirus have dropped as people’s predominant worry; across the three age groups (16-29, 30-59, 60+) 29% cited inflation as their number one concern. This was followed by the war in Ukraine at 17%, climate change at 16%, global recession at 14%, cost of housing at 12%, and finally coronavirus at 3%.

Of groups 16-29 and 30-59, 28% and 32% respectively worried most about the cost of living. The 60+ group’s main concern was the war in Ukraine, at 33% but 24% were still choosing inflation as their biggest worry.

Chief Investment Strategist at Bank of Ireland Kevin Quinn says this of the results.

“Rising inflation is having a significant impact on how people view their finances. So much so that despite the challenges presented by Covid and the Russia-Ukraine war, the impact of rising prices is possibly the most significant in the past three years in terms of how people view saving and investing.”

With regards to how the different age groups answered, Quinn says the under 60s have more reason to worry.

“Our survey also illustrated the different strains faced by different age groups. Working age and younger consumers are the most impacted by the rise in the cost of living, at least thus far.” 

The survey also shows that people are less confident with how comfortable they will be when they retire. In light of inflation, Irish consumers worry that they cannot save as much as they once did.

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