Latest reading: Retail sales were up 3.3% in annual terms in August, following a 5.0% increase in the previous month....
Retail Sales in United Kingdom
The British economy recorded an average growth rate of 1.5% in retail sales over the decade to 2024, below Major Economies's average of 4.1%. In 2024, the United Kingdom's retail sales growth was 0.4%.
United Kingdom Retail Chart
Note: This chart displays Retail Sales (ann. var. %) for United Kingdom from 2015 to 2014.
Source: Macrobond.
United Kingdom Retail Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales (ann. s.a. var. %) | -1.5 | 5.0 | -3.9 | -3.1 | 0.1 |
Retail sales beat expectations in August
Latest reading: UK retail sales volumes climbed 0.5% month on month in August 2025. This matched July’s pace and outperformed market expectations. Clothing outlets, online retailers, and specialist food shops led the gains, with many businesses crediting the boost to favorable weather. However, rising fuel costs dragged car fuel sales lower, taking some steam out of the overall growth.
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects British retail projections for the next ten years from a panel of 3 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable retail forecast available for British retail.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our British retail projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of British retail forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
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