Consumer confidence partly recovered this month as Britons chose to carry on spending rather than saving after the Brexit vote.
Market research firm GfK’s headline consumer confidence reading was -7 for August.
That was up from -12 in July when the index saw its sharpest drop in 26 years, following the EU referendum.
The report from also indicated a steep fall in saving as interest rates hit a new historic low.
Meanwhile there was a rise in its index of demand for major purchases, such as cars.
Joe Staton, head of market dynamics at GfK, said: “We’re reporting some recovery in the index this month as consumers settle into the new wait-and-see reality of a post-Brexit, pre-exit UK.”
The improved reading was partly driven by better than expected economic data following the referendum, including July’s 1.4% rise in retail sales.
Consumer sentiment was also lifted by the cut in interest rates to 0.25%, low prices and high levels of employment.
Mr Staton said: “We Brits are clearly determined to carry on shopping for today rather than saving for tomorrow.”