Consumer Sentiment Over Future Hits Lowest Point Since Pandemic Began, New Survey Finds

The Future Consumer Sentiment Index has slumped to its lowest point since the pandemic began. “The rapidly rising price of food, fuel and energy has left consumers with quite a bleak outlook for the next six months,” stated GlobalData, which conducts the Index.

The Index, conducted by GlobalData, is calculated by averaging consumer responses on their expectations regarding economic outlook, personal finances, and future retail spending prospects for the next six months.

“The rapidly rising price of food, fuel and energy has left consumers with quite a bleak outlook for the next six months,” GlobalData stated. “The leading data and analytics company’s future sentiment index is at its lowest level since the index began in 2012 excluding the beginning of the pandemic.”

Added Kunaal Shah, retail analyst at GlobalData, “Its decline has been very steep in the last eight months, falling 38.6 points from -9.4 in June 2021, to its current level of -48.0 as of March 2022, as consumers’ budgets have become stretched.

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