Keeping pace with consumer confidence every month since 1974
There is no other consumer research project with the longevity, rigor and reliability of GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer. Each month since January 1974, it has provided a snapshot of how UK consumers feel on the crucial economic topics today, and their outlook for the next 12 months. It has provided insight into the UK’s thinking through boom and bust, the Brexit vote, and most recently the coronavirus pandemic.

Use our long-running monthly tracking of consumers’ views of their finances and the economy now and for the next 12 months to predict and plan. Manage your product development, distribution strategy, messaging and promotions by knowing if consumers think now is the right time to make major purchases or to save. Put the results in context and compare current and emerging trends with those of the past.

Since October 2023, GfK is joining forces with the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) in order to further invest in the analysis and development of the Consumer Confidence Study and to better understand the background to changes in consumer confidence.

By asking about household income and the general economy over the last 12 months, and looking ahead to the next year, subscribers can anticipate and plan for emerging patterns of behavior. The Index tracks changes in the sentiment, which may go up or down a few points, or as dive several points over a month as we’ve seen over the last decades.

The CCB has become a well-respected economic indicator, reported alongside retail sales and inflation figures. The Bank of England, leading economists and financial institutions watch and comment on the Index every month. Others have tried to copy it, but no one has been able to replicate the wealth of trend data and consumer insight that CCB provides.

The monthly results are widely reported on in the UK media, from TV and radio to print. You’ll find the CCB in titles including the Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, the BBC, ITV, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and more. Trade titles including Marketing Week, Retail Week and The Grocer, and many more.

The survey has been conducted monthly in the UK since 1974 among 2002 UK adults aged 16+. The latest data is provided to subscribers on the third Friday of the month in most months, with a publication schedule available at the start of the year. Data is delivered in Excel and PowerPoint with the precious historical trend data. Results can be split by age, gender, ethnicity, demographic group, region and more.

Key measures: Financial and economic situation, buying and saving

• Assess how the financial situation of the household has changed over the last 12 months.
• Predict changes in the financial position of the household over the next 12 months.
• Analyze changes in the general economic situation in the UK over the past 12 months.
• Forecast how the general economic situation will develop over the next 12 months.
• Assess if now is the right time to make major purchases like furniture or electricals.
• Understand if now is the right time to save.

“For the past 30 years JGFR has used GfK’s monthly Consumer Confidence Barometer (CCB) as the benchmark consumer survey to capture the ongoing mood of the consumer. Sometimes this mood has been reactive, at other times predictive but it has always been fascinating to see shifting attitudes and behavior over time, especially across the various consumer segments and between regions. Confidence is a word rarely out of the economic news, especially during the pandemic. The GfK CCB supplies this most valuable of personal finance / economic survey datasets and should be one marketers, economists, researchers and planners access every month. “

John Gilbert, Owner, JGFR Research