If there is one thing that scares Germans, it is the thought of a gaping empty wallet. For the third year in a row, the fear of a higher cost of living has been ranked number one in R+V Versicherung's annual fear ranking. Even though inflation continues to fall, companies are paying out inflation bonuses, and wage settlements are also high, people in Germany still remain skeptical.

People feel it at the supermarket checkout when they see that there are fewer items in the shopping cart for the same amount of money.

The director of the study, Grischa Brower-Rabinowitsch, told DW: "This is a really deep-seated fear in Germany. In the 33 years of our study, the fear of the rising costs of living has been the number one fear in our study for a total of 14 times. As soon as prices go up, this fear resurfaces."

For this year's study, some 2,400 respondents from the age of 14 were surveyed between July and August.

Overall, the mood has actually brightened somewhat in 2024. In fact, the fear of rising living costs among respondents actually fell by 8% compared to the previous year. A positive trend that the authors of the study had not necessarily expected.

"It really surprised us that most people's concerns are diminishing overall, especially in light of the many heated discussions in the media. What is not surprising is that economic concerns are still high. And given the huge debates about immigration, we were not surprised to see those two issues so high on the list."

Migration and affordable housing

On the subject of immigration, two fears rank in the top five: concerns about the state being overburdened by refugees and fears of tensions caused by the influx of foreigners. Nevertheless, these figures are far below their peak in 2016, when immigration to Germany was at its highest. One significant detail of the current study is that people in eastern Germany are more concerned about migration than those in the West.

Although the topic is no longer the focus of media attention, the fear that housing will become unaffordable in Germany came in third place. Grischa Brower-Rabinowitsch explained: "Two or three years ago, there were still a lot of demonstrations about this issue, but not at the moment because other topics have taken priority. But people are actually aware of this problem all over Germany and are paying very close attention. Try looking for an apartment in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich or Dusseldorf and see what the prices are like."

Media can amplify fears

Fears of tax increases or benefit cuts ranked fifth and worries about a decline in the economy ranked eighth, bringing two more economic issues into the top 10 fears. This is in line with the latest data from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook, which shows that Germany has slipped to 21st place in the world in terms of the gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity.

Is the press also responsible for people's fears that their wallets will be empty at the end of the month and that migration will overwhelm Germany? This is what Brower-Rabinowitsch had to say about that:

"Of course, the media also has an influence on people's fears by reporting extensively on certain topics. We have seen this time and again over the past 33 years since we started the study. At the same time, however, people are also very sensitive to real concrete events, such as price increases or terrorist attacks."

As a result, both fear of terrorism and fear of political extremism have risen the most since last year. Germans are particularly afraid of Islamist terrorism, closely followed by right-wing extremism.

What didn't show up in the latest study, in contrast, were the many floods that occurred this year.

"In fact, fear of natural disasters slipped to 13th place this year, and concerns about climate change to 15th place. People's focus is now elsewhere. In 2010, fear of natural disasters was at its peak, 20 percentage points higher."

An important lesson for German politicians

German politicians may want to take a close look at the study since they also occupy a prominent place in the rankings. In sixth place, even the fear that politicians are not up to their job comes in ahead of the fear of the polarization of society. For the authors of the study, this is a devastating verdict:

"Every second person believes that politicians are no longer able to solve our problems, that they are in over their heads. We also asked respondents how they would grade them from 1 to 6, and the average grade for politicians was an even 4. One in three even gave them a 5 or 6. That's really worrying." 

This article was originally written in German.

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