Russia’s war against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East have exacerbated the rise in energy and fuel prices in Europe.
Against the backdrop of renewed attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the price of Brent crude oil exceeded $100 per barrel on 9 September.
The survey polled 10,000 people aged 18 and over in the UK, Germany, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and France.
Greeks, Italians and Portuguese are most concerned about rising fuel costs. In Portugal, on 7 September, petrol and diesel prices reached record levels. This is the sharpest rise in fuel prices in the last four years and the highest price of diesel ever recorded.
Survival strategies
Over the past year, more than a third of Europeans have been forced to cut back on essential expenditure – even items such as food and healthcare – in order to pay their electricity and hot water bills: 23 per cent of those surveyed have already stopped visiting doctors due to rising costs.
Residents of Moldova and Greece are forced to cut back on spending three times as often as those in Germany and the UK, according to Euronews.
Faced with rising fuel costs, people are cutting back on holidays first and foremost, followed by visits to relatives living far away.
Around 30 per cent of Europeans have stopped driving to work, even if the journey now takes considerably longer.
Europeans are using a variety of methods to cut costs: turning down the heating or switching it off altogether, and taking cold showers.
Almost 70 per cent of respondents have taken such measures at least once, whilst just over half say they consistently take several such measures at once to cope with their water and electricity bills.
For example, the French and Greeks most often switch off the heating in individual rooms, whilst people in Moldova prefer not to use certain household appliances (such as washing machines).
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