UK consumer spending fell by the most in 8 months in December - Visa

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Britons tightened their purse strings during the holiday season, according to Visa payment card data.

Overall consumer spending fell 1 percent year-on-year in December – the biggest fall since April 2018. Notably, spending had dropped 0.7 percent in November.

The slowdown in consumer spending is being associated with Brexit uncertainty and comes at a time when the British exporters feeling the heat of the Sino-US trade war.

Key quote (via Reuters)

"The sustained fall in expenditure throughout the fourth quarter of 2018 coincides with a marked drop in consumer confidence, as uncertainty around the UK's impending exit from the EU continues to dampen sentiment," said Annabel Fiddes, an economist at IHS Markit.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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