War worries loom among Baltic consumers

Take note – story published 8 years ago

The number of people in the Baltic states concerned about the possibility of war has skyrocketed in the past year, says the latest Nielsen consumer research poll in the region.

Whereas last year during the first quarter 4% of Latvians surveyed admitted that concerns about the chance of war breaking out affected their daily buying habits, in the first quarter of 2015 already 32% of respondents said they were worried about a war and that it was influencing their consumer behavior.

Lithuanians and Estonians were also markedly concerned, however slightly less so than Latvians. In Lithuania war-worrywarts rose from 2% in the first quarter last year to 21% this year, while in Estonia the figure jumped from 3% last year to 24% so far this year.

Among other factors affecting the consumption patterns of Baltic consumers, according to those polled, health concerns were cited by 40% of Lithuanians and 25% of Latvians, while 35% of Estonians said problems in the economy had them most worried.

Other worries mentioned included children’s education in Lithuania, untenable household budgets in Latvia (19%, happily down from 45% during 2014’s first-quarter) and health care costs in Estonia (28%).

Worries about finding a job fell in Lithuania (20% from 24%) and Latvia (13% from 17%), while staying level in Estonia at 9%.

The Nielsen surveys have been conducted each quarter since 2005.

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