Consumer confidence is one of the most widely reported economic indicators. It appears in headlines, earnings calls and boardroom presentations. Yet surprisingly few people know how to actually read it – what the numbers mean, what they don’t, and how to extract genuine insight from them. This matters because confidence data, read badly, leads to…
The Consumer Confidence Index is one of the most recognised economic indicators. It’s cited in boardrooms, referenced in earnings calls, and reported monthly in the financial press. It’s also routinely misunderstood and misapplied – leading to common consumer confidence index mistakes. That’s not a criticism of the index itself. CCI does what it was designed…
Low consumer confidence is one of the most cited economic indicators – and one of the least understood. Headlines report the score. Commentary describes whether it’s up or down. But the question that actually matters gets surprisingly little attention: what’s causing it? The honest answer is that low confidence rarely has a single cause. It…
The premise of this question needs unpicking before it can be answered. Gen Z don’t overconsume in any absolute sense. They can’t – they don’t have the money. This is a generation squeezed by housing costs, weighed down by student debt, entering a job market that’s tightening just as AI starts automating entry-level roles. The…
UK consumer confidence has been low for years now. The headline indices confirm it, the economic commentary repeats it, and most boardrooms have accepted it as background noise. But “confidence is low” isn’t an explanation – it’s a symptom. The more useful question is: low for whom, driven by what, and with what consequences? The…
The short answer: yes, consumer confidence is falling and remains under pressure. It remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels, around 15 points down, and the last five years have seen repeated false dawns, with each recovery stalling before it gains momentum. Traditional confidence indices will tell you the score is down. They won’t tell you why…
Consumer confidence is a measure of how optimistic or pessimistic people feel about the economy – and, by extension, how likely they are to spend, save or hold back. It’s one of the most widely referenced economic indicators in boardrooms, newsrooms and policy circles. When confidence rises, the assumption is that consumers will loosen their…