London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

Britons spend more, go out less in early April

Britons spend more, go out less in early April

British consumers spent more in early April, partly due to soaring fuel prices, but fewer people left their homes to go to work, shop or socialise, raising the prospect of an economic slowdown caused by a cost-of-living squeeze.
British consumers spent more in early April, partly due to soaring fuel prices, but fewer people left their homes to go to work, shop or socialise, raising the prospect of an economic slowdown caused by a cost-of-living squeeze.

Weekly credit and debit card data showed spending in the week to April 7 was 2 percentage points higher than the week before, though this was not adjusted for seasonal factors or inflation.

The Office for National Statistics said overall spending was 6% higher than in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, while average prices have risen by more than 8% since then.

Consumer price inflation has picked up sharply over the past year and last month, budget forecasters predicted it would reach nearly 9% by the end of the year, ushering in the biggest cost-of-living squeeze since records began in the late 1950s.

The Bank of England expects growth to slow sharply this year as households' disposable income drops in real terms.

The most recent rise in spending was led by a 6-percentage-point week-on-week increase in 'work-related' spending, which includes the cost of fuel for commuting, the ONS said, while spending on socialising was up by 4 percentage points too.

The higher spending figures, which come from interbank CHAPS payments data collected by the BoE, contrast with a fall in the number of Britons visiting places of work, shops and restaurants over the same period.

Google Mobility figures published by the ONS showed a 4% week-on-week drop in visits to workplaces and a 1% decline in visits to 'retail stores and recreation areas', while OpenTable restaurant booking figures dropped by 2 percentage points.

Looking ahead, British banks are concerned that defaults on a wide range of loans will rise, according to a quarterly survey by the BoE, also published on Thursday.

Rates of default for mortgages, unsecured consumer lending and business loans are all expected to be higher in the three months to the end of May than in the three months before.

That said, recent rates of default have been low, and concerns about big rises in default rates in previous surveys have not come to pass.

The survey also showed lenders intended to reduce the availability of mortgages by the most since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

"The anticipated pull back in credit availability reflects rising market interest rates rather than ... criteria over which lenders have more control," said Andrew Wishart, senior property economist at Capital Economics.

Financial markets expect the BoE to raise rates to at least 2% by the end of the year, up from 0.75% currently.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
×