United Kingdom: Consumer confidence records worst reading since July 2008 in April
Consumer confidence fell to minus 38.0 in April from March’s minus 31.0, amid surging inflation and uncertainty driven by the war in Ukraine. April’s result marked the worst reading since July 2008. As a result, the index moved further below the 0-threshold, pointing to pessimistic sentiment among consumers.
The fall came on the back of a deterioration in consumers’ assessments of their financial situation and the general economic situation over the next 12 months and the past 12 months. In addition, views of their willingness to make major purchases weakened.
Regarding the reading, Joe Staton, GfK’s client strategy director, stated:
“There’s clear evidence that Brits are thinking twice about shopping, as seen in the tumbling Major Purchase Index—now is not considered to be a good time to buy. This is dire news for consumer confidence and with little prospect of any economic relief on the horizon we can only forecast further falls in the Index for the year ahead.”