Source: Sharecast
GfK’s long-running consumer confidence index fell 11 points from September to -24, with all five confidence measures down.
Excluding a 25-point slide at the onset of Covid, this marked the steepest fall since the Brexit vote in 2016.
The index for personal finances over the last 12 months declined to -10 in October from -3 the month before, while the gauge tracking expectations for personal finances over the next year fell to -3 this month from 5 in September.
The measure for the general economic situation over the last 12 months was 12 points lower at -48, while the index for the general situation over the next year deteriorated to -36 in October from -22 in September.
The major purchase index came in at -22 this month, down from -8 in September.
The savings index, which is not included in the overall index score, ticked one point higher to 28.
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, an NIQ company, said there had been "an extraordinary collapse" in consumer confidence.
"The last time we saw an 11-point drop was in July 2016, following the Brexit vote. In recent years, only the onset of the Covid pandemic saw a larger fall (down 25 points)," he said. "While all measures are lower, the two largest decreases are in expectations for the wider UK economy in the coming year and the intention to make major purchases, both slumping by 14 points. With no single major economic event driving the decline, and with weakness seen across the full spectrum of income, age and gender demographic groups, these are damaging findings given the UK government’s priority of economic growth.
"Relentless cost-of-living pressures, against an international backdrop of unresolved regional conflicts that are themselves contributing to domestic inflation now at 3.5%, appear to have swept aside the nascent optimism we saw following the appointment of a new UK prime minister this summer. Headline consumer confidence is now back to the level seen in April, May and June of this year and the summer’s buoyant mood has evaporated. The speed of this deterioration is alarming."