UK retail sales nosedive data

Wed, 07 May 2025

UK retail sales nosedive data

RT.com
20 Nov 2023, 11:43 GMT+10

UK retail sales nosedive data

The decline is blamed on consumers cutting back their spending

UK retail sales fell unexpectedly in October, with the volume of goods sold in stores and online slumping 0.3% month-on-month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday.

Economists were expecting an increase of 0.4% for the month of October. Instead, sales plummeted to their lowest level since early 2021, when Covid restrictions were in place. Compared to last year, October sales were 2.7% lower, data shows.

The report also highlighted that the October drop followed a revised 1.1% decline in September that was worse than first estimated.

Both economists and retailers blame the cost-of-living crisis and bad weather for the poor performance.

"Weather effects from the particularly wet second half of the month are said to have played a role in reducing footfall, on the heels of what had been an unusually warm September and early October," Sandra Horsfield, an economist from Investec bank, said in a research note, as quoted by the Guardian. "This may well not only have deterred purchases of autumn/winter clothing ranges but kept consumers out of shops more generally," she argued.

The bleak figures suggest there is a growing risk that the British economy has stagnated, and GDP could yet be revised lower to a negative reading, Horsfield added.

"In any case, we remain of the view that a winter recession looks likely, as higher interest rates gradually feed through and take their toll on household and business finances," said the economist.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section

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