HOW DID THE CORONA VIRUS AFFECT PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE?

This year ‘s results show that 66% of the respondents will spend less money during the Summer holiday season, when compared to the same period last year, while only 8% indicated they will spend as much or more than last Summer. The results show that more than 50% of the respondents have been affected by the worldwide pandemic and they have cancelled their Summer plans. 25% have cancelled international travelling, while 15% cancelled their plans of buying a car this year. 10% had plans to purchase a new house, but they would rather delay their plans and focus on savings versus big spending.

Cancelling the plans might be due to the fact that 13% of the respondents mentioned they have lost their job and are currently unemployed because of Covid-19 layoffs, and at the same time 18% received a salary reduction for the immediate future. 58% are the lucky ones who were not affected financially, and they still have their job and salary level as before Covid-19.

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! Let’s look at the bright side: Social distancing has brought us closer together.

We may be apart, but Covid-19 has brought us closer. Working remote also makes us build even stronger connections. The Ferratum International survey shows the Coronavirus World Pandemic affected everyone on different levels, but it also helped us develop new hobbies, live a healthier life, learn how to better manage our finances, appreciate the little things in life and also brought us closer to our family and loved ones.

During these past months people watched TV as main activity (15%), probably to be up to date with the Covid-19 news and updates, Videocalls and phone calls with friends and family (13%), still spending time outdoors for daily walks or workout where allowed (11%) and also watched Netflix and online streaming in general (10%).

Humans are social creatures and yet we have been asked to live in isolation. Guess what people missed most and is first thing they’ve done after isolation? That’s right: visiting their family (18%) and meeting with friends and loved ones (16%) as first 2 choices. People also miss going out, eating at restaurants and having a drink at a terrace or local bar. International travel, going to the seaside, social and cultural life (cinema, theater, concerts), even domestic travel is something they will like to do as soon as its allowed. At the end of the chart with only 3% we can find the “going back to the office“, respondents didn’t miss office life very much. Might be because they have learnt to work remotely or they just want to have a regular Summer holiday and be allowed to go back to their life before Covid-19.

2020 Bigger spenders

When it comes to 2020 big spenders, 86% of the monthly income will be spent during Summer in Bulgaria, followed by Croatia with 72%, Latvia 50% and Romania where only 49% of the monthly income will be spent on Summer plans. At the other end of the chart we find Nordics spending about 30% of their monthly income for the Summer activities. (Sweden 31% and Denmark 29%).

Spending less, saving more

28% of the respondents from 11 countries said they are planning to spend a maximum of 200Eur over the next 2-3 months, 12% will spend around 1300Eur, while only 9% will spend more than 2000Eur.

Respondents are planning to cover their Summer spending this year with 45% tapping into their savings, while 31% will cover them with a Ferratum Loan. 35% didn’t take a loan lately because they didn’t need money, while 25% needed financial help but they didn’t access Ferratum Loans being concerned they couldn’t pay it back. 20% mentioned they have spent less money lately being at home during isolation time.

Biggest spending during Covid-19 isolation

When asked what they spent their money on the most during past months while in isolation, more than 50% (52%) stated groceries were their main expenses, followed by home improvements (13%), clothes and shoes (12%) and personal care products (10%). People also supported local businesses and made the choice to order food from their favourite restaurants (7%).

Some countries have shifted dramatically when compared with previous years. For example, Norway held the top-spender position with the biggest amount of spending money (out of disposable household income) allocated in 2018 at 68%. However, this year ‘s results found Norway in 10^th place, with only 36% of disposable household income used for the 2019 summer holiday.

The future is digital! Cash loses ground, online payments are increasing

Online payments are preferred by 52% of the respondents, 25% still use cash on delivery and the other 25% would choose bank transfers when ordering online. The most digitalized countries when it comes to online payments are Norway (86%), Australia (79%) followed closely by Denmark (77%). At the end of the chart we find Finland (28%) and Bulgaria (27%), Finland preferring bank transfer payment methods (52%) while Bulgarians are more traditionalists preferring cash on delivery (71%).

Online vs Street shopping

68% of the respondents still prefer street shopping vs online. This is different compared to previous years, and the explanation is simple: people miss going out shopping, as the past couple of months have been in lockdown and purchasing everything online.

Over half of Swedish people prefer to continue shopping online (62%) while the majority of remaining countries continue to shop offline, once they will be allowed to do so again.

Top summer spending for 2020

Respondents from all 11 countries would spend the most money on the following three activities: groceries (23% of their budget), home furnishing (11%), financing children’s needs (10%) and domestic travel (10%).

All countries placed in the top of their main spending Groceries, only Estonia mentioned that Domestic travel will be the biggest spend (17%).

How was the Ferratum Group Summer Barometer 2020 ™ Covid-19 edition conducted?

• The survey was conducted by the Ferratum Group who surveyed its active customers in 11 International countries via web survey with a standardised questionnaire. Incomes are stated in local currency, and relative Summer consuming is calculated by the ratio of a family’s monthly disposable income in each country.

• Almost 15,000  households participated in the survey. Respondents were aged from 18 to over 61y. 57% of participants were women. The average available net income of participating households was between €827 – €3672. The average household size among the respondents was 3.5 persons.

• In addition to demographic factors, respondents were asked about their disposable monthly net income, how the Coronavirus World Pandemic changed their life and spending behavior, what they spent money on during isolation, what their spending plans are for the upcoming months and what they fear the most regarding Covid-19.