UK consumer confidence rebounds following Brexit vote

British consumer confidence has rebounded since the Brexit vote, despite the impending squeeze on household budgets from rising prices, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey has found.

A gauge of expectations for the next 12 months returned to positive territory in September as more consumers predicted they'd be better off than worse off, PwC said on Friday.

Upbeat

Londoners and young people were the most upbeat, the survey of 2,050 consumers found.

The report suggests consumers will continue to support an economy facing an uncertain year as Britain prepares for negotiations to leave the EU and the weak pound stokes inflation.

“Following a slight decline in July following the EU referendum vote, we have seen a recovery in consumer confidence to the same levels we saw earlier in 2016,” said Kien Tan, director at PwC.

“In fact, more consumers are expecting to spend more on groceries and holidays rather than less, as they expect prices to rise following the EU referendum.”

– (Bloomberg)