Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that retail sales fell by 0.7% in October, ending a three-month rise and recording the sharpest fall since June. Economists had expected sales to decline by 0.3% after rising 0.1% in September (revised from +0.3%). Non-food stores sales volumes fell on the month as retailers reported that Budget uncertainty affected sales. For the three-month period (through October), sales volumes rose by 0.8% when compared with the three months to July.
Meanwhile, in October, retail sales excluding fuel decreased by 0.9% (the strongest drop in 4 months) after an increase of 0.1% in September (revised from +0.3%). Consensus estimates suggested a 0.4% drop.
The data also showed that, in annual terms, retail sales increased by 2.4% in October, slowing compared to September (+3.2%, revised from +3.9%). Economists had expected an increase of 3.4%. When compared with their pre-coronavirus pandemic level in February 2020, volumes were down by 1.5%.
The ONS said that non-food stores sales volumes, the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores, fell by 1.4% in October, following a rise of 2.3% in September. The strongest subsector fall was within clothing stores, which fell by 3.1% over the month to October 2024. Other non-food stores also fell by 1.4% m/m following strong growth in September. Within this subsector, the strongest downward contribution was from other retail sales (not elsewhere specified), which includes activities of commercial art galleries.
The data also showed the amount spent online, known as online spending values, fell by 1.2% on a monthly basis and rose by 5.0% per annum. The proportion of online sales decreased from 27.8% in September to 27.7% in October.