Brexit: British Pound's Future Value Not the Worry it Once Was to the UK Public

Research suggests that the potential impact on the value of pound sterling from a vote to leave the UK remains a concern for the UK public ahead of the June 23rd EU referendum.

However, when compared to previous polls we note concerns over sterling have fallen.

46% of British adults say they are worried about what a vote to leave the EU may do to the value of the pound, according to ComRes who carried out the research on behalf of FXCompared.

A similar poll conducted in February 2016 showed 55% of Britons expressed worry that a potential UK-departure from the EU would affect the value of the pound.

Of course the tone of the report suggests a lower pound is a bad thing; if you were an UK exporter you would likely take an opposite view on what a lower/higher pound represents.

There are interesting geographical variations in what a move in the value of the pound represents - Londoners appear to express more concern than peers elsewhere in the country.

59% of Londoners say they are concerned about what would happen to the pound on a Leave vote, this is a notable 10% drop from the February poll.

It is worth noting that the British pound hit multi-month lows in February; a time when the EU referendum had a strong hold on market attention.

Sterling has since recovered the majority of the losses as polls show a decided shift towards a Remain vote carrying the day.

The research also highlighted gender and generational differences.

Women (51%) continue to be more likely than men (41%) to be concerned about how a “leave” vote may affect the value of the pound.  

However, the proportion of both worried women and men has dropped markedly from 61% and 48%, respectively, in February 2016.

Middle-aged adults are more likely than their older counterparts to be worried about the value of the pound being affected by a “leave” vote, with 56% of those aged 25-34 and 54% of those aged 35-44 saying they would be worried.  

35% of those over 65 also voiced concern.

The FXcompared survey was undertaken by ComRes, and 1,004 British adults were interviewed by telephone between 20th and 22th May 2016.

Data was weighted to be representative of the British public by age, gender and region. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

The previous February survey was also undertaken by ComRes on behalf of FXcompared, where 1,002 British adults were interviewed by telephone between 26th and 28th February 2016.