Ahead of World Consumer Rights Day, the Commission has published the 2025 Consumer Conditions Scoreboard. It shows that 68% of European consumers feel confident about the safety of their purchases, and 70% trust that their rights are respected by traders. However, online threats such as scams, fake reviews, and misleading advertising persist.
Commission takes action to protect consumers
The Commission is taking decisive steps to address the challenges faced by consumers across the EU. With the new General Product Safety Regulation, consumers are now better protected from unsafe products sold both online and offline. To address risks from goods sold by non-EU online retailers, the Commission adopted the E-commerce Communication package earlier this year. The Commission is also preparing a Digital Fairness Act to enhance consumer protection against harmful online practices.
Following the application of new rules under the Right to Repair Directive and the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive in 2026, consumers will benefit from easier repairs, increased reuse, and clearer information on durability and reparability.
Key findings of the 2025 Scoreboard
- 70% of consumers agree that retailers and service providers respect consumer rights, while 61% trust public organizations to protect their rights.
- Cross-border e-commerce is rising, with 35% of consumers buying from another EU country and 27% from outside the EU in 2024.
- Online shoppers are over 60% more likely to experience problems with their purchases compared to offline shoppers.
- 93% of online shoppers worry over online targeted advertising, including data collection and excessive personalization.
- 45% of consumers encountered online scams and unfair practices, such as fake reviews and misleading discounts.
- Despite slowing inflation in 2024 and improved consumer sentiment compared to 2022, 38% of consumers are concerned about paying their bills, and 35% about affording their preferred food.
- 74% of consumers noticed shrinkflation in packaged goods, while 52% observed a decline in quality without a price drop.
- Environmental considerations in purchasing decisions fell by 13% since 2022, due to the cost of sustainable products and distrust of environmental claims.
Next steps
The results of the Scoreboard will be discussed with Member States, consumer associations, and businesses, feeding into future initiatives such as the Consumer Agenda 2025-2030 and the Digital Fairness Act.
Background
The Consumer Conditions Scoreboard is a biennial report monitoring consumer sentiment across the EU, Iceland, and Norway. It collects data on national consumer conditions, focusing on knowledge, trust, compliance, enforcement, and dispute resolution. The main data source for the Scoreboard is the Consumer Conditions Survey, assessing consumer attitudes, behaviors, and experiences in the Single Market, particularly regarding consumer rights compliance. For the 2025 report, the survey was conducted in November 2024. Where relevant, data from other sources (e.g., Eurostat, Safety Gate) is used to provide contextual information.