Why are things expensive?
Design by Federica Fragapane, development by Paolo Corti,
in collaboration with Google Trends
Scroll down to read and explore
People across the world are searching for cost of living topics including inflation, interest rates, wages, credit and savings in 2022 and 2023 more than ever before.
↑ Search interest
Global charts for cost of living topics
Searches for expensive have also reached an all-time high in 2022 and 2023 in all languages.
↑ Search interest
Global chart for the expensive topic
We looked at every country’s most popular why is … so expensive searches over the past 10 years to see how the things people are struggling to afford vary from place to place and over time.
In 2023, the top why is … so expensive search in the majority of countries (68 in total) is for food & drink items and in 30 countries, the top expensive search is for appliances & technology.
In 2023, the top why is … so expensive search in the majority of countries (68 in total) is for food & drink items and in 30 countries, the top expensive search is for appliances & technology.
FOOD & DRINK
↑ Number of countries
Number of countries searching each topic by year
In comparison, in 2013, the top search in 61 countries was for appliances & technology. The next most popular expensive search was for cars & transport. Food & drink was only the top why is … so expensive search in 17 nations.
appliances & technology
↑ Number of countries
Number of countries searching each topic by year
While items that fall under the appliances and technology category were the most frequently top searched why is … so expensive in every country in the world between 2012 and 2015, items that fall under food and drink have become the most frequent expensive search in nearly every year since then.
So which foods and drinks are people struggling to afford?
Eggs are the most frequently top searched why is … so expensive item over the past 10 years, with 18 countries searching it most. The first time eggs were the top expensive search was in 2015 in the US and by 2023, 15 countries across the world had it as their top why is … so expensive search.
So which foods and drinks are people struggling to afford?
Eggs are the most frequently top searched why is … so expensive item over the past 10 years, with 18 countries searching it most. The first time eggs were the top expensive search was in 2015 in the US and by 2023, 15 countries across the world had it as their top why is … so expensive search.
Minimum search interest
Maximum search interest
Map showing the countries searching for why are eggs so expensive
Other foods and drinks that have appeared frequently in top expensive searches are pine nuts, wagyu beef, salmon, avocados, Evian water and pistachios.
Other categories that feature in nations’ top why is … so expensive include appliances & technology, with Apple products at the top of the list and cars & transport, with flights, cars and petrol topping the list.
People are also searching for clothing, accessories & makeup, fuel, power & gas, healthcare and books & education.
Other categories that feature in nations’ top why is … so expensive include appliances & technology, with Apple products at the top of the list and cars & transport, with flights, cars and petrol topping the list.
People are also searching for clothing, accessories & makeup, fuel, power & gas, healthcare and books & education.
Please note we have only included the top why is … so expensive (or variations of this phrase) search for each country in the years between 2012 and 2023, where sufficient data is available.
Explore what items are most frequently Googled for their expense in your country and how that compares to the rest of the world
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