Britons would rather shop than save post-Brexit, new figures show

Fresh figures are showing a post-Brexit recovery in consumer confidence as Britons prove they are determined to carry on shopping rather than save.

Consumers are settling into a "wait and see reality" following the Brexit vote, sending this month's GfK Consumer Confidence Index up five points to minus 7.

All five measures used to calculate the index, carried out on behalf of the European Commission, saw increases as Britons' motivation to save collapses, the report said.

Expectations for personal finances over the next year saw a five-point increase, although it remains three points lower than this time last year, while the outlook for the general economic situation over the coming 12 months saw an 11-point jump in a turnaround from last month's 19-point fall - but still 25 points lower than August last year.

Meanwhile, the savings index collapsed by 16 points, down from plus one last month to minus 15.

The figures are in stark contrast to July's survey, which showed confidence had suffered its sharpest monthly drop in more than 26 years.

Joe Staton, head of market dynamics at GfK, said: "We're reporting some recovery in the index this month as consumers settle into the new wait-and-see reality of a post-Brexit, pre-exit UK.

"The uptick in confidence is driven by good news from hard data, the combination of historic low interest rates matched with falling prices and high levels of employment.

"We Brits are clearly determined to carry on shopping for today rather than saving for tomorrow."

Last week the YouGov/CEBR (Centre for Economic and Business Research) Consumer Confidence Index saw its highest monthly bounce since February 2013 of 3.2 points to 109.8.

The poll revealed significant increases in people's expectations for their household financial situations and property values over the coming year.