NEWS24 April 2020

UK consumer confidence stagnates

UK – Consumer confidence has remained at the same low level in April after dropping to -34, with no guarantee that the fall has ended, according to the GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index.

Woman holding purse and coin

The current score is five points above the report’s historic low of -39, recorded during the recession in July 2008.

One measure – the forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months – increased to -14, while the other three measures remained the same.

The overall index score for March was -9, but dropped to -34 in the last two weeks of the month, according to an interim report published GfK on 6^th April. The latest data is based on interviews conducted between 1^st-14th April.

Joe Staton, client strategy director, GfK: “Consumer Confidence has stayed at the minus -34 points recorded in our first Covid-19 flash of 6^th April. It is impossible to say if this is at the bottom after weeks of adjustment to the reality of lockdown life, or if further falls are to come. We are recording a three-point rise in expectations for personal finances for the next 12-months, although it is important not to attach too much significance to this.”

The major purchase index score is -52 for April, 51 points lower than it was in April 2019. Staton said: “Despite households making online purchases of home cooking equipment, freezers, TVs, monitors and other goods, these surges in demand have not compensated for the loss of overall retail sales due to the closure of physical stores.”

The Consumer Confidence Barometer is conducted by GfK on behalf of the EU.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics today ( 24^th April) showed that the monthly retail sales volume in the UK dropped by 5.1% in March.