Just under 85% of people expect the cost of living to get worse over the next year.

An online survey of just under 4,000 residents in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey has analysed the experiences and perceptions of the cost of living across the past year.

From the Isle of Man, 1,257 completed the survey by Island Global Research, a market research and consultancy company.

Inflation currently stands at 9.2% in the Isle of Man and as of March Jersey’s is 6.1% and Guernsey’s is 6%.

It asked about people’s financial positions, recent changes to their cost of living, and their opinion on inequality in living standards today and in the future.

Of these, 93% said they noticed an increase in the cost of living in the last six months.

Eighty-four percent expect the financial position of their household to get worse in the next 12 months.

This is compared to 82% in Jersey and 79% in Guernsey.

Meanwhile, 52% of respondents in the island are ‘very concerned’ about poverty and inequality in living standards today and think these will ‘get a lot bigger’ in the future.

In the Isle of Man, 47% of people have found it difficult to meet living costs in the last year, with 55% having the same problems in Jersey and 49% in Guernsey.

Seven percent can’t afford costs and have often gone without essentials, but Jersey has felt the impact further with 11% struggling.

Plus, 14% of people in the island could not afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £100 and 37% would struggle to afford a £100 per month increase in living expenses.

Island Global Research said: ‘We found it striking that half of people categorised themselves as less than comfortable, including 8% who say they cannot usually afford their [living] costs, and often have to go without essentials like food and heating. The remaining 50% comprises 42% who are “relatively comfortable” and 8% who are “very comfortable”.

‘Those less able to afford their costs appear to include a greater proportion of under 40s, families with children, and women. However, we plan to do further analysis to understand where there are statistically significant differences between different demographic groups, which we will release in due course.

‘In all three islands, respondents were often concerned by what they believe to be a widening of the gap between the richest and the poorest in our communities. There is concern about young people moving away.

‘This appears to already be affecting some of those less able to afford their costs, while several “relatively comfortable” respondents said this is something they would be prepared to consider in the future.’