SA consumers say food, goods and services are getting pricier under lockdown

05 July 2020 - 16:01 By Nomahlubi Jordaan
SA consumers say they are worried about the increase in the cost of food, goods and services during the lockdown.
Image: Picture: 123RF/RICHARD THOMAS

The majority of people polled across 26 countries, including SA, have reported an increase in the cost of food, goods and services since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The survey was based on an online survey conducted by Ipsos.

“In SA, women are more worried about this [cost of food] issue than men, with 84% of women and 77% of men saying that the overall cost of necessities has increased over the last few months,” said Ipsos.

“When looking at the different age groups, older people are more keenly feeling these cost increases, with 87% of those 50 years and older, 83% of those 25-49 years old and 76% of those up to 34 years old saying that costs have increased a lot or somewhat.” 

According to the online survey, conducted between May 22 and June 5, three in five people polled said food, goods and service costs had increased somewhat or a lot.

Argentina, SA and Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Belgium were at the top of the list of countries experiencing increases, according to the poll.

“The global results show that more than a quarter of people in Hungary (27%) and South Korea (26%) say costs have decreased somewhat or a lot since the outbreak began, followed by Japan and Russia (21%).

“Meanwhile, almost three in every 10 in all countries (29%) say costs have stayed the same, with a majority agreeing with this in Sweden where restrictive lockdown measures were not implemented. Almost half of people in the Netherlands and Japan (49%) and South Korea (48%) also agree with those in the Scandinavian country,” said Ipsos.

More than a third of people surveyed said transportation costs on using vehicles, buses, trains and fuel had decreased, likely a result of less travel as restrictions forced many to work from home.

But on the flipside, more than a third of people said they had incurred new or additional costs, such as larger utility bills, due to spending more time at home or working from home.

One in every 10 South Africans polled indicated that they had to pay for medical treatment because of Covid-19.

The survey was based on an international sample of 17,997 adults aged 18-74 in the US, Malaysia, SA, Turkey and Canada, and aged 16-74 in all other countries.