Britons' Confidence in Economy Falls to Lowest Level since 1978: Ipsos MORI

British confidence in the economy over the next 12 months has fallen to its lowest level since Ipsos MORI began collecting economic confidence data in 1978, the company announced on Sunday.

The survey indicated that 75% of Britons expect economic conditions to deteriorate over the next year, an increase of 8% compared to last March. By contrast, only 7% believe the economy may improve, while 13% expect conditions to remain the same, bringing the net optimism score to -68 points, the lowest level in more than 46 years.

Ipsos explained that inflationary pressures and recent US tariffs, along with growing concerns about the state of the British economy, have pushed pessimism to levels not seen in Britain since the recession of the 1980s, the financial crisis of 2008, and the cost of living crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic. The data indicated that the net economic optimism score had reached minus 64 points during those critical periods, making the current level even worse than those of previous crises.

"Pessimism about the economy has risen by 30 percentage points since last June, even before this month's figures were released," said Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos. "Few prime ministers have faced this level of economic pessimism so early in their tenure," he add

This decline in economic confidence comes as a blow to the government of Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, who took office last July with the goal of making Britain the fastest-growing economy in the G7. The British government, which operates a highly trade-intensive economy compared to its G20 counterparts, seeks to avoid retaliatory US tariffs by negotiating a new economic agreement with the United States.

This challenge is pivotal for the Starmer government as it attempts to boost foreign trade and achieve economic stability at a time of mounting political and popular pressure due to declining confidence in the domestic economy.

Amid these gloomy figures, Britain's economic outlook remains uncertain, with expectations of continued volatility amid international trade tensions and domestic pressure on the government.