UK consumer confidence fell in October to its lowest level since April 2020.
The YouGov and Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) consumer confidence index declined to 94.7 from 97.7 in September, falling for the third month in a row and marking the fourth-lowest score in the index’s 10-year history.
Against a backdrop of rising interest rates and more expensive mortgages, the index for confidence in house prices over the last 30 days slumped to 115.4 in October from 124.8 the month before, while the index for the outlook over the next 12 months dropped to 109.1 from 120.4.
But pessimism over household finances was the biggest contributor to the overall decline in the confidence index. The gauge for the outlook for finances over the next 12 months improved to 45.5 from 43.0, but this remained the worst score in the overall index by some distance and marked the 14th consecutive month the score has been negative.
The index for the outlook for household finances in the past 30 days fell to 55.8 from 56.6. This was the second-worst score for this measure – which has never seen a net positive score – on record.
