December the 3rd, 2022 - Croatian pessimism is usually given in somewhat healthy doses, but it seems that it is on the increase according to a new citizens' survey.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, as many as 44.3% of people living here in Croatia believe that their overall quality of life will be worse in the years to come, and more than half of them (more precisely 61.2% of the respondents) stated that they experienced a decline in purchasing power over the past year.

Croatian pessimism is on the rise, they're distrustful and worried, according to the Zero Quadrant survey on citizens' attitudes, beliefs, fears and expectations, conducted by the Val Group agency in collaboration with Ipsos.

This higher dose of Croatian pessimism is also reflected in the expectations for 2023 because, according to the research, as many as 88.8% of consumers are significantly or very worried about further price increases as the country introduces the euro during a period of high inflation. As such, 41% of them will have to spend more, and only one in four respondents will actually work to actively reduce their personal consumption.

As many as three quarters of those surveyed (73.9%) are worried about the crisis unfolding for the domestic economy. In addition, Croats are losing confidence in all sectors, trusting the media the least - with only 13.3% of respondents saying they have much faith in it. The state institutions, trusted by 13.6% of people, fared a little better. In the real sector, however, insurance companies enjoy the least trust (18.1%), and tradespeople the most - 57.7%.

As for healthcare services, people are more satisfied with private healthcare facilities - 46% of them in total. On the other hand, only 26% of citizens are satisfied with public healthcare.

The finding on the impact of price increases on consumer attitudes towards brands is also interesting, and today, the social responsibility of companies and their impact on the environment is less important to them as prices soar. For example, back in pandemic-dominated 2020, as many as 58% of respondents said they bought brands from socially responsible companies. Today, just 45% of them say the same. As far as investments are concerned, as many as 82% of people have singled out investing in knowledge as the most profitable type of investment.

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