Eight in ten people expect the cost-of-living crisis to get worse in the next six months.
According to a consumer mood tracker from Red C, only 14% of consumers believe the Irish economy will improve.
They expect borrowing costs and the affordability of housing to worsen further in the coming months.
Consumers also expect energy and fuel spending to rise further.
Groceries
Almost half of consumers expect their spending on groceries to rise further over the next six months.
Recently, the Labour Party called on the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to investigate claims of ‘price gouging’ at Irish supermarket chains as production costs continue to fall.
Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope told Newstalk Breakfast we don’t have “definitive proof” of price gouging in supermarkets – but there are many questions surrounding large chains.
“An awful lot of the excuses and an awful lot of the reasons they gave 12 months ago for pushing prices higher and higher and higher are now gone,” he said.
“The question that we have to ask is not whether or not they're making excess profits – the question is why the prices aren't coming down today to reflect the changing circumstances in 2023 compared to 2022.”
Mr Pope said one supermarket chain will likely move its prices down and other chains will follow.
“If you take a price for a tin of beans, let's say one retailer is charging €1.20 and all the retailers then start charging €1.20. If a retailer starts charging €1.10, all of them will start charging €1.10.”
Holidays
People plan to spend less on discretionary items including entertainment and holidays.
A survey by travel agents Click & Go found that 68% of people have not booked a summer holiday yet – but 93% of those people say they still plan on going on holiday.
Click & Go CEO Paul Hackett told Newstalk Breakfast that most people are waiting for the prices of flights and accommodation to drop before booking their holiday.
"I think it is a case of [people] expecting prices to go down," he said. "With inflation the way it is, the cost of fuel the way it is and with airfare tickets, the way they’ve jumped … that’s not going to happen.”
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary previously told Newstalk Breakfast that plane fares are only going to increase as time continues.
