Germans spend less money on consumption

Inflation slows German consumption. According to a survey, nearly two-thirds are reluctant to buy.

Nearly two-thirds of consumers are spending less due to higher inflation. According to a survey by the Federal Association of Consumers (VZBV), another 20 percent expect that they will have to limit themselves in the future, the Funke media group newspapers reported Thursday. Most buy cheaper groceries (61 percent), less clothes and consume less overall (56 percent each). A good third drive is less frequent. Many people are currently avoiding or at least minimizing air travel.

At the same time, the majority of consumers are willing to change their consumer behavior to protect the climate. 75 percent would wear their clothes longer than buy new ones. 60 percent want to buy energy-saving electronic devices, and another 45 percent have defective devices that are repaired instead of buying new ones.

However, consumers would like to receive binding information from manufacturers about the service life of devices. In this case, 60 percent would be willing to repair faulty hardware if the intended service life has not been reached. For example, consumers want washing machines for twelve years, vacuum cleaners, televisions and printers for ten years, and mobile phones for five years.

In order to promote resource-saving reforms, manufacturers must be obliged to provide binding information on the service life of devices, asked VZBV board member Ramona Pop. “Politicians and manufacturers are responsible for creating the framework conditions to enable consumers to consume in a climate-friendly way,” she told Funke newspaper.

Pope stressed that “the right to reforms agreed upon in the coalition agreement is an important building block for building climate-friendly and resource-efficient consumption.” So the coalition must now fulfill. “It must be ensured that manufacturers design their products in such a way that they can be repaired. Of course, repairs must also be affordable and costs must be within an economically reasonable range.”