Consumer confidence ‘stalls’ in February
Consumer confidence has edged down in February as people feel concerned about the general economy and persistently higher inflation.
According to GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index, it has fallen two points to -21 in the month. The decline follows three months of increases.
While the index measuring the forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months has remained unchanged from January at zero, the measure for expectations for the general economic situation for the same period has decreased by three points to -24.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said: “There’s a mixture of bad news and good news for February.
“The bad news is that the improvement in the Overall Index Score seen over recent months stalled slightly in February due to a fall across most measures. However, the good news is that optimism for our personal financial situation for the next 12 months has not slipped back.
“Although registering again at zero, this is a significant improvement on the -18 score from February last year. This metric is key to understanding the financial mood of the nation because confident householders are more likely to spend despite the cost-of-living crisis.”
Meanwhile, GfK’s major purchase index has dropped by five points to -25 this month, although this is 12 points higher than in February last year.
Staton added: “Looking forward, it will be interesting to see what the forthcoming Budget delivers in terms of taxation and inflation. These are important issues to everyone – especially in an election year.
“The recent performance of the economy will play a crucial role in determining results at the ballot box. All the measures this February are better than a year ago, but consumer confidence alone will not carry us into a brighter economic future.”
