Retail sales in Great Britain provided lifts while buyers spray themselves | Retail industry

Retail sales in Great Britain increased last month in a strong increase in consumer spending in department stores, hardware stores and points of sale.

Reflecting a stronger economic background than feared, figures of Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the sales volumes increased by 1% of the month, although the expenses in supermarkets decreased after a month of the bumpers in January.

The economists of the city had foreseen a monthly fall of 0.4% between weak levels of consumer trusted, after the economy approached stagnation in the second half of last year while the families were close to the belts.

The figures will arrive as a push for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, after the government’s independent economic prediction has reduced its growth forecasts for 2025 to half the Spring Declaration on Wednesday.

The ONS also declared on Friday that the United Kingdom economy grew by 0.1% in the last quarter of 2024, confirming its own initial estimate made in February.

However, he also reviewed his growth estimates of 0.1 percentage points for each quarter between the last three months of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024. Now he estimates that the economy has grown by 1.1% in 2024, from an initial growth estimate of 0.9%.

Thomas Pugh, an economist of the Audit RSM UK company, said: “The result is that the economy is slightly better than what we thought at the end of last year, and families seem to be in a strong financial position.

“But the trust of the companies is still weak, which is reflected in the decline in corporate investments. The greatest risk is the uncertainty generated by the US commercial rates, a global commercial war would mean another stagflation attack for the United Kingdom, even if we avoid direct rates”.

The latest Snapshot will arrive as a push for many retailers, since companies havetened at a leap in costs in April by an increase in the minimum wage, the national insurance contributions of the employer and company rates.

The figures in the sector showed the trust of consumers who reached a minimum of 11 months in February, but buyers seem to have challenged a month of bad weather in February to make the most of the discount throughout the sector.

Food sales went back 2% compared to the previous month, since some economists suggested that this could have been guided by consumers who eat the most. The strongest category for performance was the shops of goods for the home, where sales increased by 6.8% while customers prepared for the hottest months. The clothes and shoes stores recorded a 2.3% increase in sales.

Families have generally maintained savings in recent months, rather than spending, between fragile levels of consumer trusted.

The figures separated from the ONS showed that families spared more money in proportion to their income at the end of 2024 than at any time in almost 15 years, apart from during Covid’s pandemic. The savings report of families rose to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 10.3% in the third quarter.

“We plan that the volumes of retail sales continue to rise in the rest of 2025 while the families close their high levels of savings, in support of future retail sales,” said Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior economist of the United Kingdom at the Consulting Macroeconomics.

“Having said that, families will have to deal with the increase in inflation, the potential of the most sticky interest rates and the threat during a global commercial war”.