UK consumer confidence up in March but still 'fragile', GfK says

(Sharecast News) - Consumer confidence in the UK improved slightly in March, but remained "fragile", the results of a closely followed survey showed. Consultancy GfK's consumer confidence index for March rose by one point from the month before to reach -19.0 (consensus: -21.0).

Neil Bellamy, Consumer Insights Director at NIQ GFK, called attention to the fact that the latest reading was "more positive" than those of -40 or less registered as recently as early 2023 on account of the cost-of-living crisis.

Nevertheless, she said that: "If consumer confidence were a patient languishing in a hospital bed, a doctor would say there is little evidence of a recovery as yet.

"Where do we go from here? The current stability is to be welcomed but it won't take much to upset the fragile consumer mood."

The long-term average for the index was -10.0.

Of the five subindices that feed into the headline reading, those linked to perceptions of the wider economy during the past year and looking ahead 12 months both improved by two points to -42 and -29, respectively.

But that was only a "marginal" improvement, she said.

Views on personal finances for the past year slipped from -7.0 to -9.0, whilst looking ahead those views dipped by one point to 1.0.

A subindex tracking major purchases was steady at -17.0.