UK January retail sales +1.7% vs +0.3% m/m expected

• Prior -0.3%; revised to -0.6%
• Retail sales +1.0% vs +0.6% y/y expected
• Prior +3.6%; revised to +2.8%
• Retail sales ex autos, fuel +2.1% vs +0.9% m/m expected
• Prior -0.6%; revised to -0.9%
• Retail sales ex autos, fuel +1.2% vs +0.5% y/y expected
• Prior +2.9%; revised to +2.1%

As seen above, the jump on the month was largely driven by food store sales (+5.6%) – which was the largest rise since March 2020. That said, it follows from four straight months of declines previously. So, that puts into perspective the backdrop coming into this month’s report as sales were poor during the final quarter of last year.

Non-store retailers’ sales volumes also increased modestly with retailers in this sector noting that post-Christmas sales are remaining strong. Besides that, all other sectors reported declines on the month with department stores’ sales coming in flat.

As a whole, UK retail sales volumes are still down 1.3% compared with the pre-pandemic level of February 2020.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.