Upcoming live webinarWorld Consumer Outlook 11
Crisis,
what crisis?
Consumer confidence, consumer spending and the rising cost of living
The consumer story behind the headlines
Feeling poorer.
Spending more.
Consumers say they feel worse off. Yet real spending keeps rising. Is the crisis a crisis of confidence, a genuine squeeze on household budgets, or both?
The averages hide the answer. In the US, the squeezed middle has cut back on extras since 2021, while richer consumers continue to spend more. Rent, utility bills and other essentials are absorbing more of the household budget.
Join World Data Lab for World Consumer Outlook 11 as we look beyond sentiment to the spending data: who is under pressure, where demand is holding up, and what companies need to watch in 2027.
This free online webinar takes place on November 19, 2026 at 10:00 AM EST | 4:00 PM CET. Wolfgang Fengler, Homi Kharas and Thomas Bauer will discuss consumer confidence, real consumer spending and the rising cost of living, moderated by Reshma Sheoraj.
Explore the World Consumer Outlook series or browse World Data Lab webinars.
A first look at the findings
- +22%
- US real consumer spending versus 2019, even as confidence has fallen.
- 31 of 41
- Countries where consumers feel worse but spend more compared with 2019.
- 123M
- People forecast to join the global consumer class in 2027.
Source: World Data Lab, WCO November 2026 presentation, slides 3, 17 and 21. 2026 figures are modelled; 2027 figures are forecasts.
Cost of living crisis and consumer spending
How does the cost of living crisis affect consumer spending?
Pressure on household budgets and growth in total consumer spending can exist at the same time. World Data Lab's WCO November 2026 presentation shows US real consumer spending +22% versus 2019, even as confidence has fallen. Across 31 of 41 countries, consumers feel worse but spend more compared with 2019.
These findings do not mean the cost of living crisis is over. The webinar looks beyond averages to examine which households are squeezed, where spending is holding up, and how rising bills affect the choices consumers make.
For businesses, the question is not simply whether consumers are spending more or less. It is who can afford to spend, on which categories, and in which markets. Join the speakers to explore the gap between consumer confidence and real spending.
Source: World Data Lab, WCO November 2026 presentation, slides 3 and 17. 2026 figures are modelled.
Register for the free webinarIn this session
Feeling poorer, spending more
Why consumer confidence and real spending tell different stories, and what that gap means for business.
The cost-of-living squeeze
Where bills have risen faster than pay, which categories households are cutting back on, and why affordability matters more than averages.
Who is really squeezed?
A closer look at younger consumers, renters and families with children, and how higher interest rates affect the middle differently from the rich.
Beyond America: where growth remains
What the confidence-spending divide looks like across markets, and why India and China lead the next wave of consumer-class growth.
Who's speaking
Wolfgang Fengler
CEO, World Data Lab
Homi Kharas
Co-founder, World Data Lab
Senior Fellow, Brookings
Thomas Bauer
COO, World Data Lab
Reshma Sheoraj
SVP Strategic Engagements, World Data Lab
Moderator
World Data Lab
Understand the consumers
behind the numbers.
Explore the global spending, demographic and household data that helps distinguish short-term pressure from long-term opportunity.
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