Retail sales in the UK declined 1.4% month-over-month in September of 2022, following a revised 1.7% decline in August.
Sales dropped across the main sectors:
- namely food (-0.7%)
- non-food stores (-0.2%)
- non-store retailing (-0.4%)
- fuel (-0.1%).
Household goods stores (such as furniture stores) sales volumes fell by 1.5% in September 2022 because of falls in each of its sub-industries. Continuing feedback from retailers suggests that consumers are cutting back on spending because of increased prices and affordability concerns.
Other non-food stores, such as jewellery stores, reported a monthly fall in sales volumes of 0.7% in September 2022, while department stores fell by 0.6%.
Year-on-year, retail sales dropped 6.9%.
Compared with the pre-coronavirus level in February 2020, total retail sales were 1.3% lower.
source: Office for National Statistics