In December 2018, the research holding "Romir" conducted an all-Russian survey on large expenditures made in the respondents' families over the past 6 months and planned for the next six months. According to the results obtained, during the whole of last year, Russians did not demonstrate the promised savings on large purchases and increased their expenses in almost all categories. The exception was household appliances and electronics, which for the third year in a row shows negative dynamics from 13% in 2016 to 7% in 2018. The number of families who did not commit any major spending over the last half of the year has halved from 31% to 15%.

The share of Russians who spent a fair amount on buying clothes and shoes increased the most from 30% to 51%. The drivers of growth in this category were young respondents aged 18-24, among whom 68% bought clothes in 2018.

The share of Russians who spent on medical services doubled from 15% to 31%. Basically, this answer option was indicated by women and respondents over 60 years old.

21% of respondents spent substantial funds on recreation. Thus, the number of Russians who do not save on travel has doubled compared to the previous 2017, and returned to the indicator of 2014.

The repair of apartments or country houses / dachas in 2018 was carried out by 13%, which is 4% more than in the previous period. A similar increase of 4% – from 7% to 11% – was recorded in the cost of purchasing new furniture. The number of respondents who bought new smartphones has increased significantly, from 9% in 2017 to 15% in 2018.

The share of compatriots who bought jewelry increased to 3% last year, catching up with the figures of 2015.

It can be concluded that the Russians have seriously exceeded their spending plans. In particular, instead of the fourth part of Russians who planned spending on clothes and shoes, half of the respondents actually committed them - 51%. Medical expenses were made by almost a third of Russians instead of the planned 14%. Excess expenses are also noticeable in other categories - recreation (9% vs. 21%), repairs (7% vs. 13%), entertainment (4% vs. 7%), smartphones (5% vs. 15%), furniture (5% vs. 11%), car repairs (4% against 10%).

Sharing their plans for 2019, Russians have traditionally declared their desire to save money; a quarter of our compatriots will try to abandon large purchases, and the rest plan to at least reduce their expenses. Let's see if these intentions come true.

Source: Romir»

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