Footfall improves over Easter Weekend, but still below 2019 levels

UK footfall rose by 2 percent compared to the week before over the long Easter Weekend from April 15 to 18, according to the latest data from Ipsos.

Retail parks saw the strongest week-over-week improvement with an increase of 7 percent, followed by high streets with a 5.9 percent improvement. Meanwhile, shopping centres saw a 5.3 percent drop in footfall.

Breaking it down by region, the Midlands and the South West & Wales were the strongest performers, up 15.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Northern England saw a more modest 2.4 percent improvement, while Scotland & Northern Ireland and London & the South East saw a drop of 0.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Small holiday towns were the biggest winners as people flocked to the coast to enjoy the warm weather.

Despite the week-on-week growth, the footfall figures were still well below pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, footfall was 5.4 percent below the same period in 2019.

While retail parks saw an increase of 3 percent compared to 2019 levels, high streets and shopping centres saw declines of 12.8 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.