Record consumption in the US and rising egg prices in Europe

As the Easter holidays approach, economic analysts are releasing their spending forecasts. Although additional electricity costs and rising prices burden many consumers’ budgets, they are willing to set aside some funds for an Easter meal or a holiday trip.

Consumers in the United States plan to spend a total of $24 billion this Easter, according to an annual survey recently released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and data collection firm Prosper Insights & Analytics. This is a significant increase from the $20.8 billion spent in 2022 and the previous record of $21.7 billion Americans spent for the 2020 Easter holiday.

According to this survey, US consumers intend to shell out an average of $192.01 for the Easter holiday, the highest amount ever recorded.

Spending is growing in several categories, with candy ($3.3 billion), gifts ($3.8 billion) and food ($7.3 billion) among the top Easter products consumers plan to buy. They should also spend about $4 billion on clothes, $1.8 billion on flowers and $1.7 billion on decorations, while greeting cards will cost Americans $1.1 billion.

Increasing price growth

The growth of consumer prices in the USA in February amounted to six per cent year-on-year and will certainly have a share in the record numbers.

In addition to Americans, Australians should also spend 1.7 billion Australian dollars on sweets, Easter eggs and traditional food, a significant increase from the 200 million Australian dollars they spent in 2022.

However, British retail sales rose sharply last month compared to pre-pandemic levels, and prices continue to rise on the Island, so analysts remain cautious about more optimistic forecasts.