Hungarian Population: Almost Everyone Forced to Save

Food was a clear winner in a recent poll conducted for the news site Napi.hu by the public research company Pulzus: 59% of the Hungarian population cut back on food spending in the last six months. The same proportion of the spending cut was measured for entertainment.

The survey also shows that since August, at least half of Hungarians have reduced their spending on food, entertainment, eating out, electricity, clothing and travel.

Only 6% of respondents said they had not spent less in the last six months and were not concerned about price rises.

In terms of gender distribution, there is big difference between men and women in food spending, for example: 50% of men saved money on this category of goods compared to 68% of women.

Overall, it can be said that the over-60s, the retired age group, have been forced to spend less on basic living costs such as food and utilities. Young people have tightened their belts less in this area. In return, they rationalized spending on so-called pleasure goods and conveniences such as travel, clothing, entertainment and electronics.

When looking at the distribution of savings by educational attainment, it can be seen that graduates stand out in all categories (entertainment, clothing, gastronomy, travel, electronics, etc.) except for overheads. Thus, those with a university degree could be considered the most conscious cost-cutters over the last six months.