Retail sales: Key Economic Indicators

Retail sales: key indicators on the value of retail sales.

In February 2020, retail sales in the UK totalled £7.0 billion per week, up £0.1 billion on the figure in January. This figure includes money spent in shops, supermarkets, in petrol stations and online.

In the three months to February 2020, the quantity (volume) of retail sales fell by 0.6% compared with the previous three months (‘volume’ figures do not include the effect of inflation). Over the year, the volume of retail sales remained flat.

Internet sales

The average weekly value of internet sales was £1.5 billion in February 2020, up 5.3% on the year.

This was 19.6% of all retail sales, down from 19.1% in January. Since this series began in 2006, internet sales as a proportion of all retail sales has risen steadily. But since the beginning of 2019 this trend appears to be ending and internet sales has plateaued at around 20% of all sales.

Sales by sector

The volume of sales in food stores in the three months to February 2020 was down 0.1% on the same period last year. The volume of sales in non-food stores was down 0.6% compared to last year.