UK

Drop in retail sales pushes sector to worst month since the pandemic

Shoppers have been hit by the cost-of-living crisis, retailers told the ONS. (John Linton/PA)
Shoppers have been hit by the cost-of-living crisis, retailers told the ONS. (John Linton/PA) Shoppers have been hit by the cost-of-living crisis, retailers told the ONS. (John Linton/PA)
By August Graham, PA Business Reporter

The UK’s retailers saw their sales levels unexpectedly drop last month, pushing them to the lowest since February 2021 when there were still Covid-19 restrictions in place, official data suggested.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that retail sales volumes dipped 0.3% in October. The statisticians also revised September’s fall from 0.9% to 1.1%.

Analysts had expected a rise of 0.4% in October, according to a consensus estimate supplied by Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Food shops said their sales had fallen 0.3% during the month, a worse result than September, but non-food stores saw a decline of 0.2% in October, after sales dropped 2.1% the month before.

Retailers blamed the cost of living, reduced footfall and wet weather in the second half of October.

“Retail sales fell again in October to their lowest level since February 2021 when widespread lockdown restrictions were in place,” said Heather Bovill, deputy director for surveys and economic indicators at the ONS.

“After rebounding in September, fuel sales dipped with increasing prices discouraging customers, while food sales also dropped as consumers prioritised essential goods.

“It was another poor month for household goods and clothes stores with these retailers reporting that cost-of-living pressures, reduced footfall and poor weather hit them hard.

“However, it was a better month for online retailers, the only main sector to report growth in October.”

The ONS said that while volumes – the amount that was sold – dropped during the month, the value of what was sold increased by 0.1%.

It means that in October this year people were paying 16.9% more to buy 3.1% less than they did in February 2020, laying bare the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.