Confidence had only fallen at a greater amount in recent years during the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, GfK said, with a fall of 25 points.

GfK said that concerns over the economy were driving this month’s drop in confidence, with perceptions of the general economic situation down 12 points to -48, compared with -42 in October 2025.

There was a 14-point fall in people’s expectations for the economy for the next 12 months to a score of -36, six points lower than the same month last year.

The major purchase index, which measures whether now is a good time to make a big purchase, was also down 14 points to -22, and 10 points below the figure from October last year.

Perceptions of personal finances over the prior year dropped seven points to -10, again below the -5 from the same month last year.

Expectations for personal finances for the year ahead also fell sharply by eight points to -3, having been a positive score of three in October 2025.

The savings index rose one point to a positive score of 28.

The findings are based on a nationally representative survey of 2,003 individuals carried out between 1^st and 14^th October.

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said: “With no single major economic event driving the decline, and with weakness seen across the full spectrum of income, age and gender demographic groups, these are damaging findings given the UK government’s priority of economic growth.

“Relentless cost-of-living pressures, against an international backdrop of unresolved regional conflicts that are themselves contributing to domestic inflation now at 3.5%, appear to have swept aside the nascent optimism we saw following the appointment of a new UK prime minister this summer. Headline consumer confidence is now back to the level seen in April, May and June of this year and the summer’s buoyant mood has evaporated. The speed of this deterioration is alarming.”