When it comes to saving money, behaviour varies among nations – but it’s a universal truth that we all love a good bargain. Whether it be a voucher or a discount code, most of us will try to save money where we can.

But which cities around the world have seen the highest increase in savvy spending habits?

The rising cost of living means that more people around the world are looking to cut their spending and save some pennies, and at Merchant Machine we want to find out which places have the savviest spenders with the best financial knowledge and money-saving techniques.

We analysed 30 cities in Europe to discover more about their spending and saving habits. We looked at average monthly searches for discount codes, the percentage of disposable income being saved, financial literacy, credit card use and household spending per year to determine which cities have the savviest spenders.

Sections

Which cities have the savviest spenders overall?

Below is the full list of all cities analysed, ranked from highest to lowest.

Country	City	Avg. monthly searches for ‘discount codes’	Adults who are financially literate (%)	People aged 15+ who have a credit card (%)	Disposable income, 2020 per capita (PPP)	Household spending per year (million USD)	Household savings (% of disposable income) per year	Index score
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City	10	53	69.8	49,860	20,456.00	18.11	7.15
Sweden	Stockholm	90	71	44.98	35,090	232,153.00	18.01	7.06
Norway	Oslo	70	71	70.5	40,742	140,955.00	14.25	7.01
Netherlands	Amsterdam	50	66	39.1	38,552	397,296.00	17.79	6.83
Ireland	Dublin	170	55	50.86	31,553	91,607.00	21.38	6.78
Switzerland	Bern	10	57	65.47	43,035	272,168.00	17.36	6.7
United Kingdom	London	1,900	67	65.37	35,349	1,675,748.00	7.48	6.39
Iceland	Reykjavík	20	/	/	25,770	9,371.00	20.85	6.27
Austria	Vienna	30	53	46.55	38,726	232,613.00	14.45	6.1
Czech Republic	Prague	30	58	25	28,520	175,224.00	16.8	6.1
Belgium	Brussels	10	55	48.42	37.925	273,427.00	13.85	6.03
Denmark	Copenhagen	40	71	44.72	35,849	140,685.00	5.76	5.91
Lithuania	Vilnius	30	39	16.29	29,503	56,710.00	18.1	5.61
Slovenia	Ljubljana	10	44	42.17	28,334	36,878.00	16.25	5.57
Finland	Helsinki	30	63	62.78	35,536	131,525.00	4.73	5.47
Estonia	Tallinn	20	54	29.35	24,307	21,516.00	12.72	5.45
Hungary	Budapest	20	54	13.13	22,478	141,116.00	11.03	5.1
Bulgaria	Sofia	30	35	13.55	14,761	3,624.03	19.6	4.94
Germany	Berlin	50	66	52.54	42,433	2,192,838.00	11.32	4.89
Croatia	Zagreb	20	44	35.47	12,014	33,690.00	17.15	4.89
Latvia	Riga	20	48	16.67	22,504	28,969.00	9.08	4.76
Spain	Madrid	70	49	53.88	27,556	883,874.00	10.81	4.55
France	Paris	50	52	40.93	37,335	1,484,987.00	9.21	4.46
Greece	Athens	20	45	11.97	21,476	179,579.00	7.3	4.29
Slovakia	Bratislava	20	48	22.14	21,765	81,897.00	5.14	4.29
Italy	Rome	30	37	42.48	31,765	1,299,006.00	10.19	3.83
Poland	Warsaw	40	42	16.52	23,675	684,290.00	6.85	3.83
Malta	Valletta	0	44	47.11	32,652	N/A	7	3.59
Portugal	Lisbon	20	26	33.59	26,713	197,249.00	3.26	3.36
Cyprus	Nicosia	10	35	22.94	N/A	N/A	8.05	2.41

According to our research, residents of Luxembourg City are the savviest spenders overall. They did particularly well for spending and saving habits, saving an average of 18.11% of their disposable income per year and having a relatively low amount of yearly spending compared to most other cities.

Next came Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway. These locations perform better than Luxembourg City when it comes to financial literacy and discount code searches, however score worse for household spending and saving.

The UK and Ireland both came in the top 10, with London and Dublin doing particularly well for discount code searches and credit card use. However, Dublin fares much better than London when it comes to household savings – in fact, Dublin is the top city for savings, whereas London is one of the worst.

Which cities search for discounts the most?

We researched the average monthly number of Google searches for the term ‘discount codes’ to discover which cities were performing the most searches and actively looking to make savings.

Below are the top 10 cities hunting for discount codes.

Country	City	Key word	Avg. monthly searches
United Kingdom	London	discount codes	1,900
Ireland	Dublin	discount codes	170
Sweden	Stockholm	discount codes	90
Norway	Oslo	discount codes	70
Spain	Madrid	discount codes	70
Germany	Berlin	discount codes	50
Netherlands	Amsterdam	discount codes	50
France	Paris	discount codes	50
Denmark	Copenhagen	discount codes	40
Poland	Warsaw	discount codes	40

London topped the list for discount searches, with an impressive average of 1,900 searches per month.

It’s no surprise that UK residents are looking to get discounts where they can – many are no doubt feeling the burn of recent price increases, making discounts more desirable than ever.

Which cities save the most money per year?

Searching for discounts is a good indicator of a money-saving mindset, but which cities are actually saving the most?

We researched what percentage of their disposable income per capita each city was saving per year to find out. Disposable income is measured in purchasing power parity (PPP) to adjust for cost of living.

Country	City	Disposable income, 2020 per capita (PPP)	Household savings (Total, % of disposable income) per year
Ireland	Dublin	31,553	21.38
Iceland	Reykjavík	25,770	20.85
Bulgaria	Sofia	14,761	19.6
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City	49,860	18.11
Lithuania	Vilnius	29,503	18.1
Sweden	Stockholm	35,090	18.01
Netherlands	Amsterdam	38,552	17.79
Switzerland	Bern	43,035	17.36
Croatia	Zagreb	12,014	17.15
Czech Republic	Prague	28,520	16.8

Despite London’s discount code hunt, it didn’t actually make the top 10 list for money saving.

Dublin, Ireland came out on top, with residents saving on average 21.38% of their disposable income per year. Iceland’s capital Reykjavík came in just behind at 20.85%, and Sofia, Bulgaria came third with average savings of 19.6% per year.

In comparison, residents of London only manage to save an average of 7.48% of their income every year – one of the lowest out of all 30 cities analysed.

Which cities have the most financially literate adults?

Financial literacy is a measure of how financially knowledgeable we are and is a necessity for developing savvy spending habits, as it allows us to make informed and responsible financial decisions.

We measured which cities have the highest percentage of financially literate adults.

Country	City	Adults who are financially literate (%)	Household savings (Total, % of disposable income) per year
Sweden	Stockholm	71	21.38
Norway	Oslo	71	20.85
Denmark	Copenhagen	71	19.6
United Kingdom	London	67	18.11
Germany	Berlin	66	18.1
Netherlands	Amsterdam	66	18.01
Finland	Helsinki	63	17.79
Czech Republic	Prague	58	17.36
Switzerland	Bern	57	17.15
Ireland	Dublin	55	16.8

The Nordic cities of Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen placed in the top three for having the highest percentage of financially literate adults, with all three having an impressive 71% of all adults who are financially literate.

London also performed well for this metric, with 67% of adults being financially literate.

Cities with the highest credit card use

Credit card use can be a good indicator of financial awareness, and can be a good way to build up your credit score, cut costs and make savings if used responsibly.

Below are the top 10 countries with the highest percentage of credit card users.

Country	City	People aged 15+ who have a credit card (%)
Norway	Oslo	70.5
Luxembourg	Luxembourg City	69.8
Switzerland	Bern	65.47
United Kingdom	London	65.37
Finland	Helsinki	62.78
Spain	Madrid	53.88
Germany	Berlin	52.54
Ireland	Dublin	50.86
Belgium	Brussels	48.42
Malta	Valletta	47.11

Nordic cities performed well again, with Oslo topping the list at 70.5%. Helsinki, Finland also came in fifth place with 62.78% of residents owning a credit card.

There is some overlap between the top 10 countries for financial literacy and the top 10 for credit card use, which could indicate a relationship between these two metrics.

How to adapt your business to meet consumer needs

No matter which cities have the savviest spenders, it seems clear that we’re all eager to save money where we can. Most people are now shopping smarter and prioritising good deals, which raises the question – how can you adapt your business to attract customers who are looking to make savings?

Economy pricing

Adopting an economy pricing strategy is an effective way to entice customers who are shopping on a budget.

Economy pricing essentially means offering lower prices on products due to lower production costs. Big box stores such as Costco are a good example of businesses using an economy pricing strategy to appeal to consumers looking to make savings.

Ian Wright from Merchant Machine advises, “Offering products and services at a lower price than competitors, even if not a big-name brand, will most likely attract more customers to your business. Savvy spenders are always on the lookout for good deals, so ensuring your business is offering the best deals is crucial.”

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Sources

The Rise of Savvy Spenders