Slovaks are willing to spend more money than any other European nation in 2019. (source: Sme)
Slovaks are willing to spend more money than any other European nation in 2019. This stems from a study conducted by L'Observatoire Cetelem, an economic research and intelligence unit of the BNP Paribas Personal Finance group. The unit monitored 17 EU countries.
73 percent of Slovaks are planning to invest more. This was also true for 2018 and remains the highest in the European Union.
Also, the spending power in Slovakia increased by 6 percent, which is the second highest rise after Norway, which experienced an 11 percent increase. Most Slovaks want to spend primarily on relaxation in 2019.
(source: L'Observatoire Cetelem )
A total of 13,800 individuals in 17 EU countries were surveyed by Harris Interactive between November 27, 2018 and December 10, 2018.
More money on travel
More than half of Slovaks (55 percent) plan to invest more in travel and relaxation, said Nathalie Nesrin Gonin, BNP Paribas Personal Finance CEO in Slovakia, as reported by the TASR newswire.
In addition, Slovaks want to spend money on better quality housing. Nearly three-quarters of them want to invest more in household appliances, furniture and reconstruction works, TASR wrote.
While spending power in Slovakia is among the most rapidly increasing in Europe, the EU average has dropped by 1 percent.
Local consumption
L'Observatoire Cetelem's survey also looked into what it means to consume locally in the EU.
Up to 44 percent of Slovaks consider a local product one that has been made in Slovakia while 34 percent define local product as an item originating from one of the EU member states. This is a big difference compared to the EU average. Up to 64 percent of Europeans think that local products must be made in their region.
Furthermore, 59 percent of Slovaks see the development of local consumption as important but not as a priority. Food is the item favoured by Slovaks the most when it comes to locally manufactured products.
At the same time, buying local is seen as an act of patriotism among 33 percent of Slovaks. To the rest, it is a matter of pride or a goal they have set for themselves. However, 42 percent of Europeans see local consumption as a way of protecting the environment, the study shows.
Europeans want to save more
Slovaks are not the only ones who are expected to spend more in the EU, though. They are followed by Romanians with 63 percent and Bulgarians with 62 percent.
However, unlike Slovakia, both nations have recorded a drop in their spending intentions. To compare, spending intentions are expected to rise by 9 percent in Belgium and 10 percent in Italy.
On the other end, the Norwegians, Portuguese, Swedes and Danes are expected to save more in 2019 than other nations in Europe.
On average, 41 percent of Europeans are expected to spend more, which is a 6- percent drop. At the same time, 49 percent of Europeans intend to save more, which is an increase of 4 percent.
