The two largest monthly declines came in expectations for the wider UK economy over the next 12 months and the Major Purchase Index, both of which fell 14 points. The economic outlook measure dropped to -36, six points below October 2025, while the Major Purchase Index fell to -22, down ten points year on year, according to the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) powered by the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).
UK consumer confidence fell 11 points to -24 in October, with all measures in GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer powered by NIM lower than the previous month.
Expectations for the wider economy and major-purchase intentions both dropped 14 points; personal finance measures also weakened.
GfK said the fall matched July 2016’s decline and was exceeded recently only at the onset of COVID.
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director, GfK, an NIQ Company, said, “There has been an extraordinary collapse in consumer confidence in October, down 11 points to -24. The last time we saw an 11-point drop was in July 2016, following the Brexit vote. In recent years, only the onset of the COVID pandemic saw a larger fall (down 25 points).”
Bellamy said there was no single major economic event driving the decline and that weakness was seen across income, age and gender demographic groups. He said cost-of-living pressures, alongside unresolved regional conflicts that were contributing to domestic inflation now at 3.5 per cent, appeared to have swept aside the optimism seen after the appointment of a new UK prime minister this summer. Headline consumer confidence is now back to the level recorded in April, May and June this year, he added.
The personal finance readings also weakened. The index measuring changes in personal finances over the last 12 months decreased seven points to -10, five points lower than in October 2025. The forecast for personal finances over the next year fell eight points to -3, six points lower than at the same time last year, the barometer showed.
The measure for the UK’s general economic situation over the last 12 months decreased 12 points to -48, six points worse than a year earlier. Expectations for the general economic situation over the coming 12 months declined 14 points to -36, also six points below October last year, GfK said.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (CG)
