Consumer confidence drops in April as inflation fears increase
Consumer confidence has dropped in April amid rising household costs and warnings of potentially high inflation.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index has decreased by four points to -23, with all measures down in comparison to March.
The forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months has fallen by four points to -3, which is five points worse than this time last year.
In addition, expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months have declined by eight points to -37 to mark a 16 point fall on April 2024.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, an NIQ Company, said: “Headline confidence is down four points in April, led by two sharp drops in our economic measures.
“There are good reasons for this downturn. Consumers have not only been grappling with multiple April cost increases in the form of utilities, council tax, stamp duty, and road tax, but they are also hearing dire warnings of renewed high inflation on the back of the Trump Tariffs.
“The inflation rate eased in March, but are we now on the verge of another round of rapidly increasing prices? If so, consumer confidence is likely to collapse and the broad gains seen since the disastrous September 2022 minibudget, when confidence hit a record low of -49, could quickly be eroded.”
Meanwhile, GfK’s major purchase index is down two points at -19; this is six points better than the same month last year.
