Fieldwork conducted on 3-6 June
2025
According to BRC-Opinium data, consumer expectations
over the next three months of:
-
The state of the economy improved to -28 in
June, up from -36 in May.
-
Their personal financial situation improved to
-5 in June, up from -12 in May.
-
Their personal spending on retail rose to +2
in June, up from 0 in May.
-
Their personal spending overall rose to +12 in
June, up from +10 in May.
-
Their personal saving rose slightly to -4 in
June, up from -5 in May.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail
Consortium, said:
“Consumer confidence improved for the second month in a row,
reaching its highest level since Christmas, albeit still firmly
in negative territory. Gen Z saw the biggest improvement, in both
economic outlook and their expectations of their future finances,
with younger generations remaining the most optimistic about the
future. This rising optimism may also reflect the increase in
minimum wage from April, with many younger people expected to
have seen a significant uplift in their pay packet. Expectations
of future spending – both in retail and more generally – rose
slightly, with more spending on groceries planned over the coming
months.
“The Chancellor's Spending Review laid out some big spending
commitments, with the BRC welcoming its promises on skills,
police and transport spending. However, with retail already
paying a disproportionate tax burden compared to other
industries, it is vital the Government does not balance the books
on the backs of retailers and their customers. While we welcome
reforms to the broken business rates system, it is vital that no
shop ends up paying more as a result. With retail accounting for
5% of the economy and paying 21% of the total business rates
bill, levelling the playing field would unlock investment and
jobs in high streets and town centres all over the country,
supporting the UK's economic growth.”
Consumer expectations for the state of the economy
over the next three months:
Consumer expectations for their personal financial
situation over the next three months:
Consumer expectations of spending over the next three
months by category:
Consumer NET expectations of spending over the next
three months by category:
-ENDS-
All monitor dates for next year can be found here
Methodology:
Fieldwork conducted by Opinium for the BRC. Sample included 2,000
UK adults and results have been weighted and assigned a net
score. The better/worse figures in the graphs are rounded, while
net scores are calculated from precise figures. Questions were:
- Over the next 3 months, do you expect your personal finances
to get better or worse?
- Over the next 3 months, do you expect the state of the UK
economy to get better or worse?
- What do you plan to do in relation to your spending over the
next 3 months?
- Reflecting on your retail spend across different categories,
overall do you expect to spend more or less on retail items over
the next 3 months?
- What are your expectations for saving over the next 3 months?
- What are your expectations for spending on the following
retail categories over the next three months compared to the
previous 3 months?
