Fieldwork conducted on 10 - 13 February
2026
According to BRC-Opinium data, consumer expectations
over the next three months of:
-
The state of the economy improved to -30 in
February, up from -32 in January.
-
Their personal financial situation improved to
-6 in February, up from -8 in January.
-
Their personal spending on retail rose to 0 in
February, up from -6 in January.
-
Their personal spending overall rose to +6 in
February, up from +5 in January.
-
Their personal saving fell to 0 in February,
down from +2 in January.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail
Consortium, said:
"Consumer confidence improved for a third straight month, hitting
its highest level since last June. Young people remain the most
upbeat, with men notably more confident than women about the
months ahead. Spending expectations also edged up in February,
but retail demand remains weak by historical standards, leaving
retailers under continued pressure.
"This lift in confidence is encouraging, but fragile. Slow growth
and rising unemployment still weigh heavily on the economy.
Potential future rate cuts and rising real wages could help
unlock discretionary spending, but only if Government acts too
—tackling economic headwinds and mitigating business costs to
help ease the cost of living. Only by boosting consumer spending
can retail begin to unlock more jobs and investment in local
economies across the country.”
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-
The BRC sent this release to our "Monitors" and "General
Retail" media list. To check/update what media lists you are on,
please contact us below.
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?
