GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased by three points to -20 in May. All measures were up in comparison to last month’s announcement – including the Major Purchase Index, which was up three points at -16 (up 10 points YoY).
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, an NIQ company, says: “There’s an improvement across all five key indicators in May, led by two forward-looking findings. The measure for personal finances looking ahead for the next 12 months has moved out of negative territory, increasing by five points to +2. There’s a similar improvement in how consumers see the coming year’s general economy, with a four-point boost to -33.
"It’s also worth noting the three-point rise in the measure on major purchases for big-ticket items such as furniture or electrical goods, with May’s score of -16 marking the highest level seen since the end of 2024.
"Have consumers taken comfort from the Bank of England’s May 8th quarter-point base-rate cut? And have they breathed a tiny sigh of relief since April when the sudden turbulence of the Trump tariffs was prompting dire warnings of economic damage and a return to inflation? Those dangers – especially the issue of inflation – have not disappeared, but the consumer mood in the UK does appear to have improved a little.”
These are the current findings of the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) powered by NIM. The CCB has been published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), the founder of GfK, since October 2023.
