FIFA World Cup 2018: Brazilians expected to spend less on World Cup celebrations

Brazil football fans/AFP

Some 24 per cent of consumers plan to buy products over the next few weeks to celebrate the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, well below the 50.1 percent who spent money on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, according to the results of a survey released Monday by the Brazilian Business Confederation.

"In addition to there naturally being less enthusiasm among the people for a World Cup played abroad, the situation among consumers is less favorable in 2018 than it was four years ago," Brazilian Business Confederation economic unit chief Fabio Bentes said in a statement. Brazil's economy contracted 3.5 per cent in 2015, the worst performance in 25 years, and another 3.5 per cent in 2016, marking the first time since 1931 that the gross domestic product (GDP) fell for two consecutive years, Efe reported.

Even though Brazil has started recovering from the severe recession, households are still struggling with low purchasing power and high unemployment, Bentes said. The trade group, however, said it was still a good sign for businesses that one in four Brazilian consumers planned to spend money on products linked to the World Cup.

"Despite the fact that the country already put the recession behind it, the recovery in the economy and consumer spending contiues to be slow and subject to fluctuations," Bentes said. The trade group surveyed 18,000 people across Brazil. Some 51.6 per cent of respondents said they planned to spend a maximum of 200 reais (about $52.60) on World Cup merchandise, while 39.2 per cent of respondents said they would spend up to 300 reais (some $78.90).

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