UK consumer confidence boosted by household finance outlook, finds YouGov

Improvements in household finance and business activity measures led to an overall index rise of 0.9 from 108.9 to 109.8.

The measure for retrospective household finance – which surveys participants on their household finances over the past 30 days – saw the largest uptick across all measures in May, with an increase from 90.1 to 94.5. This is the highest level recorded by YouGov since August 2021.

The outlook for personal finance over the next 12 months also saw a small improvement, with an increase of 0.9 points.

Business activity measures also increased to 112.5 for the past 30 days and 124.0 for the next 12 months.

According to YouGov and Cebr’s Consumer Confidence Index, a score of over 100 represents a positive score.

While retrospective job security improved by 1.8 points to 98.2, the measure for the outlook of job security saw a decline of 5.5 points to 114.6.

YouGov’s consumer confidence data is based on around 6,000 interviews a month. Respondents answer questions about household finances, property prices, job security and business activity, capturing their views on the past 30 days and on their forecast for the coming 12 months.