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Published
May 17, 2016
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UK consumers "conflicted about money," survey shows

Published
May 17, 2016

According to the Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions for 2016's first quarter, the number of UK consumers changing spending habits to save money on household expenses hit its lowest level on record.



It was down to 46%, the lowest level since the metric first appeared in the survey seven years ago (Q1, 2009). The global average is 68% and the European average is at 59%. But any spare money Brits have still goes into savings, with 53% saying they put spare cash away. 44% spend spare money on holidays and 33% on new clothes.

There was also a decline in the number of UK consumers feeling positive about making purchases, down from a record high of 52% to 49% in Q1 2016.

These conflicting views have led the UK consumer confidence index to fall four points to 97 in Q1 2016. Confidence across Europe as a whole fell three points to 78. However, alongside Germany (97) the UK is Europe’s second most confident country, behind Denmark (105).

“Although people are loosening the purse-strings, overall, they’re still cautious about what lies ahead, borne out by the recent disappointing retail barometers,” says Nielsen UK & Ireland managing director Steve Smith. “In fact, the most popular destination currently for people’s spare cash is their savings account, rather than the high street, whilst many are using it to pay off debt.”

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