Despite projections of global inflation falling in 2023, the threat of stalled recovery - in the face of worsening debt stress and growing geopolitical tensions - still looms large; and relief from the on-going global cost-of-living crisis may yet be distant.

Set against this backdrop, a recent YouGov Surveys poll explores the varying degrees to which consumers across the world continue to feel the pinch of rising prices across several product and service categories.

Data from the poll reveals that the chief category in which consumers in the UAE have noticed a ‘major’ or ‘minor’ price increase remains groceries (68%). However, there might soon be good news on the horizon as UAE-based food importers and retailers expect reduced shipping costs to finally reflect on food prices at the consumer level.

Another area of increased monthly expense is housing costs. Over three-fifths of consumers in the UAE (62%) say they have noticed an increase in housing costs like rent and mortgage payments. Other regular expenses like home energy bills (60%) and fuel for motor vehicles (59%) round up the top four categories where consumers in the UAE are noticing increased prices.

An equal proportion of consumers indicate that they have noticed higher prices when it comes to clothes and healthcare or pharmaceutical items (58% for both).

While just about a third of Britons (33%) and Swedes (32%) say they have noticed a rise in the prices of consumer electronics, at 56%, a significantly larger proportion of consumers in the UAE say the same. Similarly, more than half our respondents in the UAE (53%) have taken note of rising mobile phone network costs in contrast to markets like Denmark (33%).

Rising hotel costs have also made a much more noticeable impact on consumers in the UAE (50%) than they have on their North American counterparts (Canada, 45%; US, 34%).

Many consumers also indicate they are noticing price increases in several forms of entertainment, including out-of-home leisure such as cinema or concerts (52%), media streaming services (43%), and video games (33% - the lowest of all categories).