Rising fuel costs affects half of all Aussies - survey

RESULTS from an international survey on fuel prices have confirmed the suspicions of many – Australians are changing driving habits because of rising oil prices.

In findings released recently, an ACNielson online consumer opinion survey conducted late last year has shown that rising fuel prices are at the forefront of drivers’ minds.

The poll surveyed more than 23,000 people in 42 countries and included more than 500 Australian participants.

With nine out of 10 Australian consumers having to maintain a vehicle, fuel prices were found to be of widespread concern.

Perhaps not surprisingly, as many as 84 per cent of Australians claim to have felt a hit to their hip pockets caused by escalating petrol prices, according to the ACNielson poll.

When asked whether the increases in fuel prices had affected them in anyway, more than half of the participants (57 per cent) said that they had been affected somewhat, and 27 per cent claimed to have been affected a lot.

In response to rising petrol prices, Australian households have been compelled to adjust their driving habits, with 61 per cent opting to use their vehicle less – the third-highest globally behind the United States and Canada, and the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

More than half of the Australians surveyed (57 per cent) are trying harder to combine trips, and 29 per cent are cutting down on non-essential living expenses.

The director automotive for ACNielson Australia, Tina Katsinikas, said that not only did Australia have one of the highest percentages of car ownership in the world, any change in oil prices had a bigger impact here.

"It’s also a country of large distances, which means that as petrol prices fluctuate, the impact on our hip pocket is much more significant than in smaller countries where average driving distances are generally shorter, and this is evident in the survey findings," she said.