UK consumer confidence hits 39 month high in July
UK consumer confidence has hit its highest level since April 2010, according to the GfK NOP index which rose by five points in July.
Nick Moon, managing director of Social Research at GfK, comments:
There is now no doubt that consumer confidence has recovered strongly from the unparalleled trough of the last five years. At -16, the overall Index is now at its highest point since April 2010. In the last three months the Index has risen by 11 points, one of the best single quarter improvements since the Index started climbing up from its all-time low of -39 in July 2008 after the credit crunch.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist, IHS Global Insight:
The main driving force behind the recent improvement in confidence has been consumers upgrading their assessment of the economy’s recent performance and, becoming more optimistic about the outlook.
This was again a major factor in July. Specifically, the sub-index relating to consumers’ view of the general economic outlook for the next 12 months rose by 7 points and was 21 points higher in July 2013 than it had been in July 2012, while the sub-index relating to the economic situation over the past year also rose by 7 points in July and was up by 24 points year-on-year. Consumers were also markedly more optimistic in July about their recent and future personal finances.
The only minor disappointment was that consumers’ opinion of the climate for making major purchases edged back by one point in July, but this followed a jump of five points in June and this index was still five points higher than it had been in June 2012.