Latest data released by ONS - 18 June 2021
- Prior +9.2%
- Retail sales +24.6% vs +29.3% y/y expected
- Prior +42.4%
- Retail sales ex autos, fuel -2.1% vs +1.4% m/m expected
- Prior +9.0%
- Retail sales ex autos, fuel +21.7% vs +27.1% y/y expected
- Prior +37.7%
The monthly figures are a little underwhelming but there are still some positives in the report. The largest contributor to the monthly decline in retail sales came from food stores and non-food stores actually showed a 2.3% monthly increase in May.
Besides that, despite the overall drop, average total retail sales volumes for April and May combined are holding 9.1% higher than that of February 2020.
