UK outspends Germany on consumer goods

The UK is a shopkeeper's paradise and a creditor's hell while Germany is just the opposite, according to a survey of 7000 shoppers across Europe that suggests spending money and accepting risk go hand in hand.

The average Briton spent €6,678 on consumer goods last year, one fifth more than a German, a study by German retailer Metro claims, noting the British are the only ones in the seven-nation sample to spend more than they earn.

But the British do not seem to mind. Only 29 percent of UK residents polled said they "could no longer sleep peacefully" when they had debts; in Germany, 52 percent admitted to traces of insomnia at the though of creditors.

While one in ten Germans, French and Italians, and one in five Poles, Hungarians and Spaniards said they "sometimes lived above [their] means", one in three of the thousand British consumers questioned admitted to this sin.

One man's failing might be his country's strength. With Hungary, Spain and Poland, the UK was one of four sampled countries whose economy grew more than 10 percent since 2000 – thanks in part to consumer spending.

Hans-Joachim Körber, chief executive of Europe's second largest retailer, said Europe still had a long way to go to match US consumption and its economic effects. US non-durables consumption nudged E7,000 per head late 2005.

A strong UK economy means Europe's champions in supermarket spending are the least worried about having to tighten their belts any time soon – only 29 percent of Britons claim to be worried about this, half the rate in Spain.

Fully one third of Britons think their country is in good economic shape, compared with twenty percent of Germans – UK salaries have grown 14,5 percent in real terms in the last five years, in Germany only 2.7 percent.

Germans save up to 12 percent of household income, with nine in ten citing "unforeseeable events" and eight in ten citing "old-age pensions" as reasons to do so. By contrast, only one in two Britons worries about the unknown.

Not that the Germans are miserable. 69 percent are "satisfied with life at present", putting them 11 points ahead of the UK and at top spot. They are also the most satisfied with the selection of goods in their local shops.

Germans pay ten percent less for these than other Europeans – only Poland and Hungary are cheaper according to the Metro survey – a fact they should be well aware of as a record 55 percent always compare prices.

Source:msnbc.msn.com