Consumer confidence dips amid tax fears

Consumer confidence in the UK has declined, with GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index showing a fall by two points to -19 in September.

Neil Bellamy, Consumer Insights Director at GfK, an NIQ Company, said “There’s an autumnal chill in the air this month, with all five measures of consumer confidence down and the Overall Index Score for September slipping two points from -17 to -19.

“The August 7th decrease in interest rates does not appear to have provided any obvious boost to the financial mood of consumers or drawn attention away from day-to-day cost issues. Both personal finance measures – past and future – are lower, while our major purchases measure has dropped three points to -16.

“Even more striking is an eight-point fall in saving intentions. Looking at the economy, sentiment is sliding sharply: in June 2024 our forward-looking measure stood at -11, but just 15 months later it has slumped to -32. Perceptions of the past year remain weak too, down three from last month to -45. With tax rises expected in the November budget, the risk is that confidence inevitably falls, just like the autumn leaves.”