Published
Apr 21, 2023
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UK consumer confidence rises again in April but is still negative - GfK

Published
Apr 21, 2023

Crisis? What crisis? In the face of of rising food and energy prices and inflation continuing to eat into wages, are all consumers buckling under the pressure? Not according to April’s latest UK confidence figures.


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“There’s a sudden flowering of optimism”, says data company GfK, with the overall consumer confidence index score increasing six points this month (to a -30 reading), marking the third successive rise this year.

There were big improvements seen elsewhere, led by an eight-point jump in how we see the 12-month prospects for our Personal Financial Situation (at -21, albeit two points worse than April 2022), reflecting “a dramatic change that might suggest household finances are stronger than we thought”, it said. 

The General Savings Index, although down two points this month (to +19) is still nine points higher than this time last year.

The brighter views on what the general economy has in store for us was compounded by April’s six-point rise (to -34, some 21 points better than April 2022). That cements a 20-point improvement since January, and “could even be seen as the proverbial ‘green shoots of recovery’”, the report added.

Meanwhile, a further positive came in the Major Purchase Index's reading of -28, four points higher than it has been for a year “and will bring much-needed cheer to retailers as we head into summer”, said GfK.

 

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