UK retail sales slump more sharply than expected in August

1.6% decline

UK retail sales fell by 1.6% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics, a worse outcome than economists had forecast.

Experts had expected a 0.5% drop, which would still have been a downgrade from July's upwardly revised 0.4%. Instead, this was the largest month-on-month drop since December 2021, a very different story to the US, where retail sales rose by 0.3% last month. The ONS data revealed that sales in all main sectors, food stores, non-food stores, non-store retailing and fuel were down over the month for the first time since July 2021, when all Covid restrictions were lifted from hospitality. US retail sales rise an unexpected 0.3% in August Victoria Scholar, head of investment at inter...