Mintel: German consumer sentiment hits a new low as economic inequality continues to grow

• 85% of German consumers perceive current mood as ‘poor’
• Within the group of German consumers reporting they are financially struggling, only a fraction reported an improvement, while 73% of them said their financial situation has deteriorated further
• Germans demand more transparency and honesty about ‘shrinkflation’, a technique used by some brands to increase their margins

Despite easing inflation, for many consumers financial pressure is still on. Only for Germans who say they are financially well off, circumstances have noticeably improved recently: 28% of this group say they are in a much better financial position than a year ago, while the situation has improved slightly for a further 20% of them.

In contrast, over a tenth of Germans are at risk of not being able to pay their own bills or loan repayments. Within this group of people, only a fraction reported an improvement, while 73% of them said their financial situation has deteriorated further – leading to a wider social gap.

“According to Mintel research, the polycrisis continues to have a big impact on consumption habits,” said Dr. Jennifer Hendricks, Senior Analyst – Consumer Lifestyles at Mintel, commenting on the agency’s latest German Lifestyles report. “A look at the German foodservice industry, for example, shows that difficult times are still ahead. Only 11% of German consumers said they plan to spend more on restaurant visits and takeaway food this year. In turn, 33% of those surveyed plan to spend less in this category and for 14%, eating out is completely off the menu.”

Similar to other countries, German companies are also struggling with supply bottlenecks and high material costs. In a bid to save resources, some companies have started filling their packaging with less product – known as ‘shrinkflation’, much to the displeasure of consumers. However, as honesty is one of the most important values for a large proportion of Germans, brands should refrain from trying to cover up savings at their expense.

“For 65% of German consumers, honesty is one of the five most important values they cherish with brands. Therefore, companies are not well advised to silently trick their customers. On the contrary, it is worth being open about the savings made in difficult times. We have already seen campaigns that focus on transparency and clearly indicate the lower content on their packaging,” Dr. Hendricks concluded.

All findings are based on our Mintel report ‘German Lifestyles 2024’ where we surveyed a panel of 2,000 German consumers aged 16+. Insofar as the terms ‘Germans’ or ‘German consumers/population’ are used, this refers to all consumers in Germany and not exclusively to German nationals.