According to CoinMeta, an economic bulletin published by the European Central Bank on Monday stated that in the initial weeks following the outbreak of the war in Iran, household consumption in the eurozone declined significantly, mainly due to a sharp deterioration in consumer confidence. The ECB noted that this indicates that if the conflict escalates again, consumer spending could be hit once more. The ECB said that in April of this year, the decline in consumption in the eurozone was twice the level predicted by historical trends, and its impact was comparable to the reaction of household consumption after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the beginning of 2022. Data shows that since mid-2024, the nominal growth rate of consumption in the eurozone has averaged around 3% to 4%. However, in April of this year, this growth rate dropped to about 2.5% year-on-year. The slowdown in consumption was mainly driven by higher-income households reducing non-essential expenditures. The ECB stated: “This further supports the view that the slowdown in consumption is not due to restricted incomes, but rather because households choose to postpone purchases when they have the ability to adjust their consumption schedules.”