British confidence in the economy’s outlook for the next 12 months has reached its lowest level ever recorded, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI and published on Sunday. Only a small number of people anticipate an improvement during this period.
A proportion of 75% of Britons expect the economy to worsen in the next year, up by 8 percentage points from March, Ipsos announced, as reported by Reuters.
Only 7% believe that the economic situation will improve, while 13% think it will remain unchanged. The net balance, at -68, represents the lowest level of optimism since Ipsos began collecting this data in 1978.
Confidence was already declining among both British companies and consumers, but recent tariffs imposed by the US and concerns about the UK economy have amplified pessimism, reaching levels comparable to those of the 1980s recession, the 2008 financial crisis, and the pandemic-induced cost of living crisis, Ipsos stated.
During all these critical periods, the net balance of economic confidence had reached -64, the polling institute added.
These results are a blow to Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected in July last year with the promise of transforming the United Kingdom into the fastest-growing economy within the G7.
“Economic pessimism was already rising by 30 percentage points compared to June last year, just before this month's figures. Few prime ministers have faced such a level of economic pessimism at this stage of their mandate,” said Gideon Skinner, Ipsos' Senior Director for UK Politics.
The British government, which manages an economy relatively dependent on trade compared to other G20 countries, is trying to avoid reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US by negotiating a new economic agreement with Washington.