The number of Britons changing their spending habits to cut down on household expenses has hit its highest level for two years, according to Nielsen’s latest Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions.

Over half of Britons (53%) admitted to taking cost-cutting measures in the second quarter of this year, the highest level since 56% did so in Q2 2015. This is in stark contrast to last year when household cost-cutting activity hit its lowest level on recor(40%), two months after the Brexit vote.
 
Nearly half of Britons (45%) think the country is in a recession. Fifty-five percent of these people think it will last for at least another year.
 
“A variety of factors has contributed to people tightening their purse strings,” said Steve Smith, managing director, Nielsen U.K. and Ireland. “The pound’s weakness against both the dollar and the euro is finally feeding through to shop prices which means real inflation is running at over 2.5%. In turn, this remains ahead of general wage growth and consequently, real household disposable income is being squeezed.”

Switching to cheaper grocery brands is now the most popular tactic for saving money (cited by 30% of Britons), followed by saving on gas and electricity bills (27%) – both of which have overtaken spending less on new clothes, which was the most popular cost-cutting tactic two years ago.