UK Retail Volumes Continue to Slip in September

Source: Office for National Statistics

Retail sales volumes in the United Kingdom continued to decline in September, following the fall in the performance of non-food stores and automotive fuel sales. EWU is up 0.18% premarket.

• Retail sales in the UK fell by 0.2% in September, following the 0.6% decline the previous month. Volumes remained 4.2% up from pre-COVID-19 levels.
• Non-food stores slipped 1.4% in volumes, as household goods stores fell along with furniture and lighting stores, and sports equipment stores.
• Automotive fuel sales volumes declined by 2.9% but remained 1.8% above levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Food store sales volumes climbed 0.6% and also were 3.9% higher than the pandemic levels recorded in February last year.
• In-store retail sales were subdued, with the proportion of online sales up to 28.1% from 27.9%. This is higher than February 2020’s 19.7%.