Confidence among Britons about the country's economic outlook has fallen to its lowest level on record, according to a new poll by Ipsos MORI released on Sunday. Only a small proportion of

the public expects any improvement in the coming year.

The survey revealed that 75% of Britons believe the economy will deteriorate over the next 12 months, an 8 percentage point increase since March. Just 7% expect an improvement, while 13% think conditions will remain unchanged. The resulting net balance of -68 represents the lowest level of optimism since Ipsos began tracking the data in 1978.

Economic confidence had already been weakening among both businesses and consumers, and recent U.S. tariffs combined with ongoing concerns about the UK's economic health have deepened the pessimism. Ipsos noted that economic sentiment has now fallen even lower than during major downturns such as the 1980 recession, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 cost-of-living crisis, when the net balance reached -64.

The poll results present a significant challenge for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who came to power last July with a pledge to transform Britain into the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

"Pessimism about the economy was already up 30 percentage points compared to last June, even before this month’s figures," said Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK Politics at Ipsos. "Few prime ministers have faced such deep economic pessimism at this stage in office."

Meanwhile, the British government — leading one of the more trade-dependent economies among G20 nations — is working to sidestep potential U.S. reciprocal tariffs by pursuing a new economic agreement with Washington. Photo by Phil Whitehouse, Wikimedia commons.