Consumer outlook 2026: wages up but European consumers still won’t spend

From think.ing.com

For households, 2025 marked another year of regaining purchasing power. Real wages in the eurozone grew by 2.6% on average. Differences were large, however. Countries with above-average wage growth were Italy, the Netherlands and Germany and, most notably, Spain, while Belgium and France saw much slower development of real wages. Throughout 2025, nominal wage growth has gradually slowed, while unemployment has remained at historically low levels. Looking ahead to next year, we expect unemployment to stay low, with nominal wage growth moderating further compared to this year. Offsetting this, consumer prices are ... (full story)