GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer

There is no other consumer research project with the longevity, rigor and reliability of GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer. Each month since January 1974, it has provided a snapshot of how UK consumers feel on the crucial economic topics today, and their outlook for the next 12 months. It has provided insight into the UK’s thinking through boom and bust, the Brexit vote, and most recently the coronavirus pandemic.

Use our long-running monthly tracking of consumers’ views of their finances and the economy now and for the next 12 months to predict and plan. Manage your product development, distribution strategy, messaging and promotions by knowing if consumers think now is the right time to make major purchases or to save. Put the results in context and compare current and emerging trends with those of the past.

By asking about household income and the general economy over the last 12 months, and looking ahead to the next year, subscribers can anticipate and plan for emerging patterns of behavior. The Index tracks changes in the sentiment, which may go up or down a few points, or as dive several points over a month as we’ve seen over the last decades.

The CCB has become a well-respected economic indicator, reported alongside retail sales and inflation figures. The Bank of England, leading economists and financial institutions watch and comment on the Index every month. Others have tried to copy it, but no one has been able to replicate the wealth of trend data and consumer insight that CCB provides.

The monthly results are widely reported on in the UK media, from TV and radio to print. You’ll find the CCB in titles including the Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, the BBC, ITV, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and more. Trade titles including Marketing Week, Retail Week and The Grocer, and many more.

GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer | UK monthly consumer survey

Track consumer confidence levels and adapt your plans

Plan marketing campaigns and promotions by knowing how confident consumers feel about the things they can control, and those they can’t.

Anticipate a spend or save mindset

Adapt your messaging, pricing and offers by understanding if consumers think now is the right time to make major purchases, or to save their cash.

Data you can trust

CCB is a trusted economic indicator, so you’ll be making your business decisions with the same data as government departments, businesses, economists and the Bank of England.

Trend data to 1974

This is the only longitudinal survey of consumer confidence which is why it is regularly quoted in all the leading media outlets in the UK and globally.

The survey has been conducted monthly in the UK since 1974 among 2002 UK adults aged 16+. The latest data is provided to subscribers on the third Friday of the month in most months, with a publication schedule available at the start of the year. Data is delivered in Excel and PowerPoint with the precious historical trend data. Results can be split by age, gender, ethnicity, demographic group, region and more.

Key measures: Financial and economic situation, buying and saving

Assess how the financial situation of the household has changed over the last 12 months.
Predict changes in the financial position of the household over the next 12 months.
Analyze changes in the general economic situation in the UK over the past 12 months.
Forecast how the general economic situation will develop over the next 12 months.
Assess if now is the right time to make major purchases like furniture or electricals.
Understand if now is the right time to save.

For the past 30 years JGFR has used GfK’s monthly Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) as the benchmark consumer survey to capture the ongoing mood of the consumer. Sometimes this mood has been reactive, at other times predictive but it has always been fascinating to see shifting attitudes and behavior over time, especially across the various consumer segments and between regions. Confidence is a word rarely out of the economic news, especially during the pandemic. The GfK CCB supplies this most valuable of personal finance / economic survey datasets and should be one marketers, economists, researchers and planners access every month. “

John Gilbert, Owner, JGFR Research

Globally trusted by businesses big and small empowering them with the best decisions for their business

News

UK Consumer confidence in freefall as Index crashes in April to -38

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UK Consumer confidence continues to nose-dive as cost-of-living crisis deepens (March)

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UK Consumer confidence down seven points to -26 in February

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UK Consumer Confidence drops four points in January

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Pre-Christmas Consumer Confidence falls one point to -15 in UK

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UK Consumer Confidence creeps up in November despite high inflation

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UK Consumer Confidence takes a turn for the worse, down to -17 in Oct

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UK Consumer Confidence falls back five points in September with all measures down

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GfK’s long-running UK Consumer Confidence Index decreased to -8 in August

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Keeping pace with consumer confidence every month since 1974