Across the continent, the pattern holds: Europeans are anxious about the state of their countries’ economies, and pessimistic about the future. Price inflation and the war in Ukraine overshadow other concerns, and these anxieties in turn are causing confidence in household finances and national economies to plummet, especially among low-income households and the elderly. As consumers worry about spending ever more on food, transport and fuel, they cut back on less essential items. Most say they’ve changed their shopping behaviors in recent months, trading down to more affordable brands and retailers. With no relief clearly in sight, 2022 continues to prove an unusually challenging year for the embattled continental consumer.