{"id":25511,"date":"2025-04-24T23:23:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T23:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=25511"},"modified":"2025-04-24T23:23:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T23:23:31","slug":"uk-consumer-confidence-hit-by-higher-household-costs-and-us-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=25511","title":{"rendered":"UK consumer confidence hit by higher household costs and US tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=f39adacd-1c6d-4ea3-9aba-4f0c0b41d7a8\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>UK consumer confidence plunged in April to the lowest level in well over a year as concerns over Donald Trump\u2019s global trade war and rising living costs hit household sentiment. <\/p>\n<p>The GfK consumer confidence index \u2014 a measure of how people view their personal finances and broader economic prospects \u2014 fell four points to minus 23 in April, the research group said on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The drop from March wiped out gains so far this year and took the reading to its lowest point since November 2023, when households were contending with surging mortgage and rental costs. <\/p>\n<p>Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said households had been hit by \u201cmultiple April cost increases\u201d in energy, water and telecoms bills, as well as rises in stamp duty, council tax and road charges. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are also hearing dire warnings of renewed high inflation on the back of the Trump tariffs,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2ae9d0d6-815b-47d6-b280-a268a2a6edef?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2ae9d0d6-815b-47d6-b280-a268a2a6edef?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2ae9d0d6-815b-47d6-b280-a268a2a6edef?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2ae9d0d6-815b-47d6-b280-a268a2a6edef?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=4 4x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2ae9d0d6-815b-47d6-b280-a268a2a6edef?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=5 5x\" width=\"3500\" height=\"2500\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2d6ebdcd-df3f-4c9b-a38d-3a771ac899f7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2d6ebdcd-df3f-4c9b-a38d-3a771ac899f7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A2d6ebdcd-df3f-4c9b-a38d-3a771ac899f7?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/bank-of-england\" data-trackable=\"link\">Bank of England<\/a> policymakers and economists have warned that the tariffs \u2014 which are being levied at 10 per cent on UK products and unleashed turmoil across financial markets \u2014 will hit economic growth. Their effect on inflation remains unclear, however, given uncertainty over how other countries might respond.<\/p>\n<p>High uncertainty has also hit business sentiment, with private sector activity contracting at the fastest pace in more than two years in April, according to the S&amp;P Global flash UK PMI composite output index. <\/p>\n<p>The worsening consumer sentiment \u2014 a shift that could weigh on growth via lower household spending \u2014 was confirmed by other measures of confidence this week, with indices provided by the British Retail Consortium and S&amp;P Global both falling in April. <\/p>\n<p>Maryam Baluch, economist at S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, said consumers\u2019 concerns over disruption to global trade and their personal finances meant \u201cwe are likely to see a more prudent approach to purchasing and savings in the coming months\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Compared with March, consumers were more pessimistic about all measures tracked in the GfK survey, which was conducted in the first half of this month. <\/p>\n<p>Falling household and corporate confidence risks derailing the green shoots shown in official data this year.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the economy beat expectations to grow 0.5 per cent, leaving it on track to beat the BoE\u2019s forecast of a 0.25 per cent increase in the first three months of 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Output in consumer services, such as bars and restaurants, rose 0.6 per cent in the three months to February, the fastest pace in a year, signalling improvements after consumer spending disappointed for most of 2024. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A86490f53-3ff4-45dc-872e-4b8cb683ca42?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A86490f53-3ff4-45dc-872e-4b8cb683ca42?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A86490f53-3ff4-45dc-872e-4b8cb683ca42?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=3 3x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A86490f53-3ff4-45dc-872e-4b8cb683ca42?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=4 4x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A86490f53-3ff4-45dc-872e-4b8cb683ca42?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=5 5x\" width=\"3500\" height=\"2500\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3978ce5d-6c56-4848-a00b-4a920918a51b?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3978ce5d-6c56-4848-a00b-4a920918a51b?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A3978ce5d-6c56-4848-a00b-4a920918a51b?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=3 3x\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net%2Fprod%2Fd5f8c660-2101-11f0-96f1-23043e8946f8-standard.png?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1\" alt=\"Line chart of By date of forecast showing Economists have cut their UK household consumption growth forecast for 2025\" data-image-type=\"graphic\" width=\"3500\" height=\"2500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Inflation also fell more than forecast in March to 2.6 per cent, and wage growth remained strong in the three months to February, supporting household incomes, according to official figures published last week.<\/p>\n<p>Consumers have built up sizeable savings since Covid-19, with wages outpacing inflation for nearly two years while spending has remained subdued. <\/p>\n<p>The trend had spurred expectations of a rebound in household consumption: only a few months ago, economists forecast growth of 1.3 per cent this year, more than double the 0.6 per cent registered in 2024. <\/p>\n<p>But those hopes have dimmed: the latest figures from Consensus Economics, which collates projections from leading forecasters, show expectations at just 0.9 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s GfK data added to the darker outlook, with the index tracking expectations for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/uk-economy\" data-trackable=\"link\">economy<\/a> in the year ahead dropping by 8 points to minus 37, the lowest level since March 2023. <\/p>\n<p>The future indicator on consumers\u2019 view of their personal finances also \u201cslipped badly\u201d, dropping four points to minus 3, according to the survey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/f39adacd-1c6d-4ea3-9aba-4f0c0b41d7a8\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}