UK: Retail sales welcome YoY increase in April due to warm weather

Retail sales in the UK rose 7 percent year-on-year in April, according to new figures by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), as a later Easter holiday helped boost activity.

This was a significant uptick on the decline of 4 percent reported in April 2024, and also above the three-month average growth of 2.9 percent, data shows.

With March and April combined and compared with the same two months in 2024, mitigating the timing of Easter, retail sales still showed a YoY increase of 4.3 percent.

Over April, food sales saw the sharpest increase at 8.2 percent, while non-food sales also remained strong, rising 6.1 percent, against a decline of 6 percent in the same month last year.

Online non-food sales drove the way, increasing 7 percent. In-store sales followed at a rise of 5.6 percent. The online penetration rate, reflecting the proportion of non-food items bought online, decreased, however, to 36.4 percent.

Akin to other categories, Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, noted that clothing sales, which had experienced more “sluggish” growth in recent months, “also improved as consumers refreshed their wardrobes for the new season”.

While Easter’s later date was a benefactor of the positive results, Dickinson also noted the impact of the warmer weather, which she said had encouraged increased activity.

Looking ahead, Dickinson continued to express caution over increases to business rates like Employer National Insurance Contributions and the National Living Wage, implemented in April.

“If the Government wants to secure the future of our high streets, then it must ensure that no shop pays more as a result of the upcoming business rates reforms, or it will be our local communities that pay the price,” Dickinson concluded.