Consumer confidence in the UK has slightly improved but has not yet shaken off the low level since the Iraq war.

Consumer confidence in the UK edged up slightly this month, but the index is still hovering near a two-and-a-half-year low due to the impact of the Iran war that broke out at the end of February. The barometer released by the research institutions GfK and the Nuremberg Market Decision Research Institute on Friday showed that the index rose by two points to -23 in May. Consumer confidence had reached its highest level since August 2024 earlier this year, but plummeted significantly after the conflict began.