A recent survey found that many UAE consumers plan to buy fewer clothes to reduce spending to deal with the rising inflation rate worldwide.
The poll, which was done by the Dubai-based company Insight Discovery with 880 people in the UAE, showed that people also planned to spend less on gas, entertainment, and eating out.
When asked which categories they would cut back on their spending in the upcoming three months due to price increases, 26% of those surveyed named clothing as their top choice, and 15% of respondents listed gas prices as the next most important problem. Another 9% listed the top three places to make cuts: weekend activities, eating out and luxury goods.
The UAE central bank predicted 5.6% inflation in 2022, which would be the highest level since 2016.
Insight’s poll participants indicated that they would cut spending on clothing before moving on to other areas, with 31% of women saying this as opposed to just 24% of men.
The areas where Emiratis cut back the most were clothes and gasoline, with 35% ranking them as the top two areas to do so, followed by Westerners (28%).
The poll was ordered by Friends Provident International (FPI), a company run by the Central Bank of the UAE.
Many UAE consumers are experiencing a strain on their standard of living. Therefore, it is not surprising that a little more than a quarter of them want to cut back on their expenditure on clothing and fuel. However, according to David Kneeshaw, Group Chief Executive of IFGL, which controls FPI, the fact that the majority of people do not want to lower their savings plan contributions despite the financial crunch is pretty positive.
In the meantime, Mercer’s 2022 UAE Inflation Spot Survey showed that, despite employees’ pleas, UAE companies were mainly unwilling to accept proposals for bigger pay raises to make up for the effects of inflation. Nearly 84% of the companies Mercer talked to said that they haven’t raised employee pay, even though living costs are going up.