By Timo Kirez
GENEVA (AA) - The fear of an increase in the cost of living is dominating Germany, according to a long-term study by an insurance company.
In the survey published on the R+V Insurance company's website Thursday, 65% of respondents said they were most worried about soaring inflation in 2023.
The same survey from 2022 shows concerns over rising living costs topping the list at 67%. The fear of unaffordable housing in Germany follows with 60%.
"People feel when shopping at the supermarket checkout that they get less and less for their euro," writes study director Grischa Brower-Rabinowitsch.
"For some, the dream of owning their own home will be shattered in view of rising interest rates and construction costs, while for others, the monthly rent will become an ever greater burden," said Brower-Rabinowitsch on their website.
According to the study, the fear index, which shows the average value of all measured fears of German citizens, was 42% in 2022 and rose to 45% in 2023. Concerns over the state increasing taxes and cutting benefits is in third place with 57%.
"The current austerity plans are constantly present in the media. So this concern has a very real background," writes Brower-Rabinowitsch.
The most significant increase is the concern that the number of refugees will overwhelm the Germans and their authorities. This figure increased by 11% compared to the previous year. In 2022, 45% of respondents expressed this concern, and this rose to 56% in 2023.
In previous years, the anxiety over refugees was expressed more in eastern Germany but has increased by 13% in 2023 in western Germany, making the west’s average (56%) larger than the east’s (54%) for the first time since 2022.
"A predominantly East German concern has thus become a topic that equally moves people everywhere in Germany. Those surveyed are afraid that integration will not succeed," says Brower-Rabinowitsch.
Some 47% of Germans also fear that coexistence between Germans and migrants living there could be impaired by a further influx of people from abroad. Only 37% of the population stated the same concern in 2022.
The study also says that distrust in politicians increased significantly and ranks sixth in 2023 compared with 10th in 2022. Numbers show that 51% of the German population fears that politicians are overwhelmed by their tasks.