U.K. Retail Sales Fell 1.6% in August as Slowdown Intensifies

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — U.K. posted their sharpest fall of the year so far in August, dropping 1.6% as the cost-of-living crisis more than offset some modest relief from fuel prices in the month.

The Office for National Statistics said volumes were down 5.4% from a year earlier, after all major categories of retailers posted declines in August.

The figures were well below analysts’ expectations for a drop of 0.5% on the month and 4.2% on the year and add to a picture of an economy sliding quickly into recession, as the surge in household energy bills and increasingly broad price increases hit consumers’ wallets. 

Food store sales volumes fell 0.8%, while non-food sales fell 1.9% and fuel sales volumes fell 1.9%. Fuel sales are now down 9% from their level before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent prices for all energy products skyrocketing.

The U.K.’s data differ from U.S. retail sales data in that they exclude the hospitality sector. As such, they are more sensitive to the recovery in spending on hospitality that has followed the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions earlier this year.

Source link