Understanding what people around the world think is 'expensive' from Google search



All kinds of things in this world, such as food, furniture, electronic devices, and housing, are becoming more expensive year by year around the world. However, prices vary from country to country, and what people in that country consider to be expensive is likely to be different. In order to clarify these values, the results of a survey on the number of times people searched for ``Why is ○○ so expensive?'' on Google were published.

Why are things expensive?

https://www.why-expensive.com/

People around the world are searching for topics related to cost of living more than ever before, with searches for topics such as interest rates, inflation, savings, and credit increasing from 2022 to 2023.



Among these, searches for words like 'expensive' reached an all-time high in all languages.



In order to measure what was perceived as expensive, the number of searches for words such as 'Why is XX so expensive?' was tallied, and as of 2023, 'food and beverages' was the top choice in a total of 68 countries. It was said that it was. This shows that people in the majority of countries find food and drink expensive. In another 30 countries, it was 'home appliances and technology.'



In contrast, in 2013, ``Home Appliances and Technology'' topped the list in 61 countries. The runner-up is 'Cars and transportation.'



Among food and beverages, the most searched word was 'eggs.' In particular, 'egg' was the most searched word in 15 countries including North and Central America, Namibia, and Sweden. Other items included Wagyu beef, salmon, avocado, and Evian (mineral water) .



There are also

pages where you can check data by category, such as 'Home Appliances and Technology' and 'Books and Education.' For example, the following is a view narrowed down to 'Home appliances and technology'.



The left side is an overview showing the number of searches related to costs in each category. On the map at the top, the countries with the highest level of interest in ``Home Appliances and Technology'' in the category are colored, and at the bottom, the number of countries with the highest level of interest in each region is listed by age group.



The category that Japanese people were most interested in was 'cars and transportation.'



On the right side, the most frequently searched words for 'Why is ○○ so expensive?' are listed for each country. For example, the most searched word in India in 2023 is 'Apple Product'.



In Japan, 'Flight' was the top choice in 2013, 2022, and 2023.



In 2012, 'Shipping charges', which is categorized as 'Other', was the top item. From 2014 to 2021, food and beverages are at the top of the list. The specific words differ depending on the year; for example, in 2014 it was pizza, in 2016 it was asparagus, in 2020 it was Wagyu beef, and in 2021 it was Miyazaki mango. All others are labeled as 'fruit'.



In addition, the search trends for each country are also shown. For example, in

Japan , 'living costs,' 'wages,' and 'inflation' will increase from 2022 to 2023.



This is a graph showing ``unemployment'', ``house price index'', and ``expensive'' from the top. Unemployment is down slightly from its heyday, and the housing price index has increased sharply over the past year. The number of searches for the word 'expensive' has also increased from 2022 to 2023, indicating that the number of people who feel that 'prices are high' has increased over the past year.



In

the United States , in contrast to the rapid rise in inflation, the cost of living and wages have been trending slowly.



The ``house price index'' and ``expensive'' have increased rapidly over the past year, just like in Japan.



in Review, Posted by log1p_kr