Britons 'most upbeat on economy'

There is high economic confidence in the UK

The British are more confident about their country's economy than the Germans or the French, new research reveals.

Nearly two-thirds of people living in the UK are optimistic that the economy will improve during the next 12 months.

In France it is 57% of people and in Germany 58%, according to research by the Halifax bank.

This optimism in the UK follows the recent news that economic growth this year outranked other G7 countries.

It is the British who are the most optimistic about general economic improvements during 2002

Mark Hemingway
Halifax spokesman

The Germans were the most pessimistic of the three nationalities, with 41% bracing themselves for their economy to get worse, compared to 35% in France and 33% in the UK.

Despite this, people living in Germany were most confident about their job prospects, with 61% of those questioned expecting their employment prospects to stay the same going forward.

The British and French were less optimistic, with just 41% of people in the UK and 42% of people in France saying their job prospects were likely to remain the same.

Fastest growing

The "feelgood factor" remains strong across all three countries, with 64% of Britons and Germans, and 54% of French expecting their standard of living to be maintained at the same level.

The research found Germans were most likely to cut their borrowing during 2002, with 70% saying they were less likely to borrow money, compared to 51% of Britons.

Halifax spokesman Mark Hemingway said: "Even though the UK will not be part of the eurozone, it is the British who are the most optimistic about general economic improvements during 2002.

Germans most likely to cut borrowing

"Consumers in the UK, France and Germany have very different views on how they will fare in 2002, but the majority share one common characteristic - they expect their own standard of living will remain the same during the coming 12 months."

For its survey, the Halifax bank commissioned NOP to interview 1,000 people in each country by telephone during December.

Meanwhile, figures published in mid-December showed the UK economy grew faster than previously thought during the year to September 2001.

UK economic output, or gross domestic product, for the year is now estimated at 2.2%, up from 2.1% previously, far ahead of the 'top three', USA, Japan and Germany.