Social conflicts are the respondents’ greatest concern
High electricity costs are among the top 5 concerns of Germans in autumn 2022: In a Forsa survey for the latest RTL trend barometer from the end of October, 47 percent of the 1,500 respondents stated that they saw electricity prices as a threat. 49 percent of those surveyed are afraid that the war in Ukraine will spread or even lead to a third world war, 51 percent are worried about heating costs and 55 percent fear that record inflation could eat away at their assets. The biggest concern at the moment, however, is a division in society. Two out of three respondents (67 percent) stated that they fear an increase in social conflicts in Germany. At the beginning of the year, this concern was not even mentioned in the trend barometer for the greatest fears of Germans.
Since April, the greatest concerns of Germans have changed
On the other hand, the greatest concern of Germans in April was an escalation of the Ukraine war (two-thirds of those surveyed), rising prices (65 percent of those surveyed) and, for more than half of those surveyed, a threat to the energy supply. A third said in the spring that they were worried about the pandemic and 20 percent were afraid of social problems because of the large number of refugees from Ukraine. This concern is no longer mentioned in the current trend barometer.
Corona, on the other hand, is still one of the fears of Germans, but in the autumn survey just 20 percent of those surveyed said they were worried about it. 32 percent said they were afraid of a longer power outage, 37 percent worried about the quality of medical care in the country and 38 percent feared that there would be a shortage of gas for households and the economy in winter. At 46 percent, food prices keep almost half of Germans awake at night.
Rising electricity, gas and heating oil costs are the biggest financial concern
It is becoming clear that inflation is a big issue in German households this year. In another Forsa survey for RTL at the end of September, respondents stated that they were particularly concerned about the costs of electricity, gas and heating oil (87 percent). 78 percent are concerned about food prices, 68 percent about fuel prices such as diesel and petrol, and 51 percent about their wealth.
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