• Consumer confidence falls to -3 in April
  • All consumer confidence measures decline
  • GfK reports a seven point fall year-on-year

UK consumer confidence has fallen into negative territory for the first time since last January as Brexit uncertainty takes hold.

Consumer confidence has dropped three points to -3 compared with last month and is down seven points year on year, according to the GfK consumer confidence index.

Confidence fell across all measures used to calculate the index as uncertainty around Brexit took its toll.

GfK’s head of market dynamics Joe Staton said: “Mixed messages about a post-Brexit world and the ongoing Eurozone crisis are casting a cloud over our economy.

“The biggest dent to confidence comes from consumers’ depression about the general economic situation in the UK for the next year, dropping 20 points in 12 months. Against this backdrop, even faith in our personal economic fortunes has taken a battering contributing to the overall fall in the numbers.”

Confidence in the general economic situation over the last year slumped a further four points this month to -14, 17 below last April, while confidence in the outlook of the general economy in the year to come slid two points to -14, 20 points down on the previous year.

By contrast, shoppers’ confidence in their personal finances over the past year dipped one point to +3, three points higher than last year, while confidence in personal finances for the year to come slipped two points to +7 but held steady on the year before.

“Trends in confidence show our degree of optimism about the state of the economy and this indicator will make for interesting reading between now and the EU referendum on June 23,” said Staton.

People’s confidence to buy big-ticket items decreased six points this month to +5, one point down on the previous year.

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