Confidence in UK economy falls from 45% in 2015 to 28% a decade later
But confidence in non-essential spending has held strong, at an average of 53% from 2015 to now, the Barclays 10 Years Of Spend report found.
Despite financial pressure, households' discretionary spending has grown by 9.2% annually on average between 2021 and 2024, outpacing essential spending's 5% growth.
The study, based on billions of transactions and more than 200,000 consumer confidence surveys since 2015, found that 66% of consumers pay more attention to their budget than they did a decade ago.
Barclays has been monitoring the impact of rising prices since December 2021, when the cost of living increased sharply across the UK (Barclays/AP)
Just under half (45%) of UK adults say they do not feel better off than they did 10 years ago.
Consumer confidence in the strength of the UK economy reached its highest point in September 2016 – at 48% – after the Brexit referendum, and fell to its lowest in October 2022 – at 15% – following the September 'mini-budget'.
Barclays has monitored consumers' efforts to find value in their weekly supermarket shop since 2023, finding that the percentage of shoppers who say they are trying to reduce their grocery spending has averaged 65%, peaking at 73% in April last year.
Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: 'The last decade has brought unprecedented levels of disruption. Amid all the highs and lows, consumers have continued to rebalance their budgets and find savvy ways to manage their money.
'This conscious consumerism will continue to shape spending in the years ahead.'
British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said: 'Since the cost-of-living crisis began, many consumers have adjusted their spending habits to save money.
'More consumers are shopping around, holding off on big-ticket purchases, and are switching to own-brand ranges or cheaper brands. For food specifically, many customers are swapping out fresh products for frozen and buying cheaper cuts of meat.
'Nonetheless, retailers remain committed to supporting their consumers by keeping the price of essentials as low as possible.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
12 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
What caused Trump & Elon Musk's explosive fallout? – from NASA spat to key role of Don's teen relative, I know the truth
The smart money was always on these two galactic-sized egos falling out HARRY COLE What caused Trump & Elon Musk's explosive fallout? – from NASA spat to key role of Don's teen relative, I know the truth THE richest man in the world going toe-to-toe with the most powerful man on the planet . . . what could possibly go wrong? And has the most outlandish politician in American history finally met his match? Advertisement 7 Elon Musk, left, looks down on Donald Trump during a White House press conference Credit: AP 7 Musk toured the swing states at last year's election telling the world that Trump was the greatest thing since sliced bread Credit: AFP 7 Trump was considering selling his own Tesla, which has spent weeks parked outside the Oval Office Credit: AP From the moment neuro-diverse rocket man Elon Musk backed New York real estate heavy Donald J. Trump to return to the White House, the smart money was on these two galactic-sized egos falling out. I hear it's the galaxy and beyond that has been at the centre of their tensions, but more on that later — as last night Washington was awash with claims Musk's attempts to befriend Kai Trump, the 18-year-old future golf star granddaughter of the President, also played a hefty part in the atomic row. 'Bankrupting America is not OK – kill the bill' But the powerful pair certainly have fallen out, trading public blows on their social media sites of choice — the very tech platforms that have both made them and could yet see them crash to back down to earth. Asked if they could reconcile yesterday, Trump slammed Musk as 'the man who has lost his mind'. Advertisement In the end, the most famous bromance in political history lasted less than a year, and the fallout risks dragging them both down. Musk claims credit for his $300million in donations swinging the election Trump's way, while the White House says that's fake news and the car salesman is sulking because he's not getting much bang for his buck. The pair clashed publicly over Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' — legislation that he says will deliver a slew of campaign promises like banning taxes on tips for millions of American workers. 7 Trump was tiring of Elon's 'ketamine-fuelled' antics Credit: AFP Advertisement 7 Richest man in the world Musk is going toe-to-toe with the most powerful man on the planet Credit: AFP But Musk — appointed to the administration to cut eye-watering federal expenditure — baulked at the increase in government spending tacked on to the law by Congress, branding it an 'abomination'. He irked Trump by urging senators to vote it down, adding it could be 'big or beautiful but it cannot be both'. Musk raged on social media: 'This spending bill contains the largest increase in the debt ceiling in US history! It is the Debt Slavery Bill… Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL.' Advertisement Trump crushes hopes of 'peace talks' call with Musk as he insists Elon has 'lost his mind' after feud went nuclear It's a long cry from when Musk toured the swing states at last year's election telling the world that Trump was the greatest thing since sliced bread and organising well-oiled get-out-the-vote operations. But behind the scenes I'm told Trump was already at the end of his tether with Musk who some sources accuse of 'gurning away' on the campaign trail and in meetings. Brought in to help slash costs through his Department of Government Efficiency, tensions reached a head after the New York Times ran a well-sourced hit piece accusing Musk of enjoying recreational drugs such as ketamine and ecstasy throughout his brief foray into politics. Those claims were not denied when Musk was confronted by Fox News in an Oval Office press conference last week. Advertisement Musk's coterie of love-children and his stated desire to help repopulate the planet with, what his former lovers have claimed, he calls genius offspring have also rubbed Trump up the wrong way. Teetotal Trump wanted rid of him but also wanted to give his big donor a decent goodbye, so lavished praise on him after he departed as special government employee last week. Yet despite all the niceties, the former allies are locked in a Cold War stand-off this weekend. 7 Devout Trump-backer Steve Bannon called for South African-born Musk to be deported Credit: The Mega Agency Advertisement Will they both retreat to their bunkers and realise mutually assured destruction is in neither of their interests, OR will they be unable to help themselves and launch a thermonuclear blow-out that burns them both up? Musk came close to that on Friday night, with his outlandish allegations that the President was sitting on files about billionaire deceased paedo-financier Jeffrey Epstein — because Trump himself is named as a murky connection. White House sources say that is nonsense and were that bombshell evidence to be sitting in a government file somewhere, surely previous Democrat governments would have leaked it by now. Musk ended his online diatribe with calls for Trump to be impeached, adding a menacing suggestion he could back the Democrats. Advertisement It's a mess, but one that was very obviously cooking Harry Cole Yet even some of his closest allies and supporters were left begging any friend possible to strip Musk of access to his own X platform before he caused any more damage. It's a dangerous game for the mercurial billionaire to play — because the President hit back that he was going to suspend US subsidies and government contracts for the entrepreneurs' many, many firms. Musk's electric car firm Tesla shares were down 14 per cent yesterday — the biggest one-day drop since the company went public, wiping $152billion off its value. And that's before the $3billion personal hit to Musk on the back of an evening of lively tweeting. Advertisement In a further snub, Trump was last night considering selling his own Tesla which has spent weeks parked outside the Oval Office, in a move which could spark a wave of similar fire sales across the US amongst his fans. 'Musk is an illegal alien and should be deported' The Tesla Cybertruck gifted to the President's granddaughter Kai is presumably for the chop too. Meanwhile, the row threatens to spark a wider war between various right-wing camps that run Washington, with implications felt in Congress and across the political spectrum. Devout Trump-backer Steve Bannon called for South African-born Musk to be deported from the US, saying yesterday: 'They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien and should be deported from the country immediately.' Advertisement 7 Twitter exchanges between the pair Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed autistic automaker said he could launch a new political party — an idea backed by 80 per cent of the millions of respondents to his social media poll yesterday. But this wasn't just a political knife-fight but also a brawl in the casino of capitalism. In short, it's a mess, but one that was very obviously cooking. Musk is a libertarian, free-marketeer who has his sights on the moon and Mars and beyond. Advertisement Trump is the tariff-loving protectionist who believes it's America First and everyone else can fall in line behind that. Prior to SpaceX, they couldn't even transport their own astronauts to the International Space Station and had to rely on outdated Russian rockets Dr Rainer Zitelmann Add to that their tensions on China that Trump sees as an existential threat to the US, while Musk views it as an opportunity to produce his electric cars on the cheap. It's amazing that things took so long to come to a head. And then it came down to space, where Musk obviously has a major financial interest as the boss of SpaceX — the rocket firm hat has all but colonised America's space projects. Advertisement As top economist Dr Rainer Zitelmann puts it: 'Without SpaceX, the US does not currently have much to offer. "Prior to SpaceX, they couldn't even transport their own astronauts to the International Space Station and had to rely on outdated Russian rockets — and paid exorbitant prices to do so. 'SpaceX is responsible for 86 per cent of all US launches.' But things were coming to a head when Trump blocked a Musk ally to take over Nasa last month, infuriating his former 'First Buddy'. Advertisement Moment of maximum danger Insiders say Musk's attempts to take over Nasa were a step too far that left America's future security beholden to a private company run by a wildly unpredictable boss. Sources claimed Musk recently had his high-level security clearances revoked by the White House as tensions mounted, leading to Friday's pyrotechnics. What happens next is a moment of maximum danger for Trump. Brits will be familiar with what happens when a leader and their dangerous right-hand man fall out. Advertisement Boris Johnson found out the hard way that if the snubbed guru bears enough of a grudge, it is fatal. The White House will be hoping this weekend that Elon holds less resentment than equally unstable Dominic Cummings — who spent the year after his No10 ousting doing all he could to unseat and destabilise his former boss. I wonder whether that might be a bit of wishful thinking . . .
Glasgow Times
20 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Japanese lunar lander crashes while attempting touchdown on the Moon
Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the Moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. People await the update on the private lunar lander's attempt to touch down on the Moon (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Takeshi Hakamada, ispace chief executive officer and founder, apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for the company. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the Moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. 'This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Mr Hakamada told reporters. He stressed the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Long the province of governments, the Moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than successes along the way. Takeshi Hakamada apologised for the mission's failure (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the Moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the Moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the Moon, a less treacherous place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Plans had called for the 7.5ft Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for Nasa. The rover was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than one inch per second.
Western Telegraph
a day ago
- Western Telegraph
Japanese lunar lander crashes while attempting touchdown on the Moon
Tokyo-based company ispace declared the mission a failure several hours after communication was lost with the lander. Flight controllers scrambled to gain contact, but were met with only silence and said they were concluding the mission. Communications ceased less than two minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled landing on the Moon with a mini rover. Until then, the descent from lunar orbit seemed to be going well. People await the update on the private lunar lander's attempt to touch down on the Moon (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Takeshi Hakamada, ispace chief executive officer and founder, apologised to everyone who contributed to the mission, the second lunar strikeout for the company. Two years ago, the company's first moonshot ended in a crash landing, giving rise to the name Resilience for its successor lander. Resilience carried a rover with a shovel to gather lunar dirt as well as a Swedish artist's toy-size red house for placement on the Moon's dusty surface. Company officials said it was too soon to know whether the same problem doomed both missions. 'This is the second time that we were not able to land. So we really have to take it very seriously,' Mr Hakamada told reporters. He stressed the company would press ahead with more lunar missions. A preliminary analysis indicates the laser system for measuring the altitude did not work as planned and the lander descended too fast, officials said. 'Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface,' the company said in a written statement. Long the province of governments, the Moon became a target of private outfits in 2019, with more flops than successes along the way. Takeshi Hakamada apologised for the mission's failure (Kyodo News via AP/PA) Launched in January from Florida on a long, roundabout journey, Resilience entered lunar orbit last month. It shared a SpaceX ride with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, which reached the Moon faster and became the first private entity to successfully land there in March. Another US company, Intuitive Machines, arrived at the Moon a few days after Firefly. But the tall, spindly lander face-planted in a crater near the south pole and was declared dead within hours. Resilience was targeting the top of the Moon, a less treacherous place than the shadowy bottom. The ispace team chose a flat area with few boulders in Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a long and narrow region full of craters and ancient lava flows that stretches across the near side's northern tier. Plans had called for the 7.5ft Resilience to beam back pictures within hours and for the lander to lower the piggybacking rover onto the lunar surface this weekend. Made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic with four wheels, ispace's European-built rover — named Tenacious — sported a high-definition camera to scout out the area and a shovel to scoop up some lunar dirt for Nasa. The rover was going to stick close to the lander, going in circles at a speed of less than one inch per second.
