MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. Most Russians continue to cut costs and save money, including on entertainment, buying new clothes, going to cafes, vacations, and other activities, according to the research conducted by NielsenIQ released on Monday.

"Seven out of ten consumers (71%) continue to save in one way or another: they limit themselves to entertainment outside the home (68%), buying new clothes (67%), going to cafes and restaurants (61%), taking annual vacations (54%), buying take-out food and delivering ready-made food (46%), buying electronics (41%)," research said.

As it turned out in the course of the study, half of Russians (49%) assess their financial situation in the next 12 months as "excellent" and "good". However, among the top five concerns, four are related to rising prices and personal finances. If health remains the main reason for worries (for 36% this is the main or second most important problem), then next on the list is the rise in prices for consumer goods (FMCG) - 33%, the level of prices for goods and services in general - 20%, increase in prices for utilities - 18%. Personal well-being of the family closes the top five - 18%.

"The uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an interesting situation from the point of view of consumer assessments: half of the respondents remain confident in their financial situation but, despite such a high level of optimism, continue to cut spending, which indicates caution about upcoming spending. This trend improved in Q2 2021 compared to the previous one, but there is reason to believe that it will continue: even with an improvement in their financial situation, consumers are planning to cut costs by inertia," said Marina Volkova, director of analytics and consulting at NielsenIQ Russia.

Experts noted that with an improvement in the economic situation, 34% of respondents will continue to cut the budget for entertainment outside the home, spending on meals outside the home - 29%, buying new clothes - 27%, saving on gas and electricity consumption - 26%, buying food to go and ready-to-eat food delivery - 26%. In the course of the survey, four out of ten (44%) surveyed consumers in Russia said that after making the main expenses they plan to direct the budget to home improvement, repairs and vacations - these items turned out to be the most popular in the list of additional expenses. At the same time, half of the study participants (49%) have not yet finalized the details of the vacation. And in the group of those, who have already rested or decided on the upcoming dates and locations, the majority chose travel in Russia.

The survey of consumer optimism in Russia was conducted by NielsenIQ in June 2021 among 1000 online respondents. The results of the study are representative for the main solvent population of urban Russia (cities with a population of more than 1 mln people), and also contain detailed data in the context of various demographic groups of consumers.