Economics
State of the Global Consumer
Report summary
The State of the Global Consumer report features Morning Consult's proprietary international economic data, derived from consumer surveys running at a daily, weekly or monthly cadence around the world. Since the questions in these surveys are consistent across all countries, these datasets offer a unique opportunity for apples-to-apples comparisons of consumer spending patterns and labor trends, as well as views on inflation and household finances.
Summary of findings: Consumers across the 15 largest economies have reported improving conditions on average in labor markets, household finances, and spending so far in 2024. However, while most economies have followed a similar pattern of recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, this year brought divergence in regional and country-level indicators. As of the third quarter of 2024, developed countries like the U.S. were showing signs of slowing amid elevated interest rates, while countries that initially lagged in their recoveries are picking up some slack.
The countries covered in this report include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S..
Key Takeaways
- Morning Consult’s unemployment data has stabilized globally, providing support for household finances as inflation in most countries cools as well.
- Global consumers have spent more this year than last, but some are starting to tap the breaks in the second half of 2024.
- Category-level spending dynamics vary greatly by country, with differences in housing market fundamentals exerting notable divergences in household budgetary habits.
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Methodology
Morning Consult data featured in this report draws from monthly, weekly, and daily surveys. All survey interviews were conducted online, and the data were weighted to approximate populations of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age and race by educational attainment.
The 15 countries covered by this analysis include: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.
Data from this report comes from the following surveys:
- Global unemployment rate daily tracking (U.S. data can be accessed via the U.S. Jobs and Labor Tracker )
- International Household Finances (U.S. data can be accessed via the U.S. Consumer Spending Tracker)
- Global Geopolitical Risk Tracker
About the author
Kayla Bruun is the lead economist at decision intelligence company Morning Consult, where she works on descriptive and predictive analysis that leverages Morning Consult’s proprietary high-frequency economic data. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Kayla was a key member of the corporate strategy team at telecommunications company SES, where she produced market intelligence and industry analysis of mobility markets.
Kayla also served as an economist at IHS Markit, where she covered global services industries, provided price forecasts, produced written analyses and served as a subject-matter expert on client-facing consulting projects. Kayla earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory University and an MBA with a certificate in nonmarket strategy from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected]
