Details
- Publication date
- 12 October 2018
Description
The 2018 edition of the Consumer Markets Scoreboard provides an overview of EU citizens' assessment of the performance of 40 consumer markets across the 28 Member States, Norway and Iceland. It is based on a large-scale survey on consumers perceptions and experiences on the functioning of key markets carried out in 2017.
The 2018 edition shows that consumers’ assessment of markets continues the positive trend since 2010, sustaining the significant improvement observed two years ago.
Highlights of the scoreboard results are presented in these two factsheets (full report available under “Related documents”):
Highlights
- Consumers’ assessment of markets in 2017 continues the positive trend observed since 2010, while adding little to the significant improvement observed in 2015. While markets in western Europe continue to perform better for consumers, the greatest improvements are recorded in eastern Europe, reaching an average performance score similar to that recorded in northern Europe. In southern Europe, however, markets appear to perform less well overall for consumers.
- A consumer’s financial situation is the personal characteristic that most influences their assessment of markets. Consumers who are struggling to make ends meet also find it more difficult to switch provider in services markets.
- Although there has been a clear improvement for consumers overall since the last Scoreboard edition, the picture remains rather mixed across markets and countries. In spite of recent improvements, problems remain in banking services, utilities and telecoms. There is a need for continued efforts to enhance consumer protection in these sectors.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
- Consumer markets scoreboard - 2018 edition (pdf)
- Factsheet: Consumer markets scoreboard - Consumers remain positive about key markets but trust in services still lacking (pdf)
- Factsheet: making markets work for consumers - Results by country (pdf)