Pressure on the cost of living continues to rise, reversing the upturn in summer optimism. Consumer confidence in the UK declined at the fastest rate this month since the novel coronavirus pandemic. Research firm GfK said that the consumer confidence index released jointly with the Nuremberg Market Decision Research Institute on Friday fell 11 points to minus 24 in October, the biggest drop since the outbreak of the epidemic in April 2020. The result was significantly lower than the average expectations of economists surveyed by the media, who expected the indicator to be negative 14. Neil Bellamy, director of consumer insight at GfK, said, “The summer high mood has subsided. The rate of this deterioration is worrying.”

Pressure on the cost of living continues to rise, reversing the upturn in summer optimism. Consumer confidence in the UK declined at the fastest rate this month since the novel coronavirus pandemic. Research firm GfK said that the consumer confidence index released jointly with the Nuremberg Market Decision Research Institute on Friday fell 11 points to minus 24 in October, the biggest drop since the outbreak of the epidemic in April 2020. The result was significantly lower than the average expectations of economists surveyed by the media, who expected the indicator to be negative 14. Neil Bellamy, director of consumer insight at GfK, said, “The summer high mood has subsided. The rate of this deterioration is worrying.”