ONS news and archive

UK: Clothing sales take hit in January despite retail volumes increasing elsewhere

New figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown a disappointing January for textile clothing and footwear stores, for which sales volumes fell by 2.7 percent on the month. A reduction in consumer confidence was cited as the cause for the drop in sales, which also contributed to a wider decrease of 1.3 percent in volumes for...

Retail

UK: Retail sales unexpectedly drop in December, clothing retailers rebound

Retail sales volumes took an unexpected turn in December, dropping 0.3 percent throughout the month, according to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This followed a subtle 0.1 percent increase in November, and came despite a rebound in textile clothing and footwear stores, which saw sales rise 4.4 percent, a stark...

Retail

Industry insiders give their reaction to latest ONS figures

British clothing and footwear retailers suffered their sharpest year-on-year decline since January 2022, with sales falling 2.6 per cent in November, marking the second consecutive monthly decrease. The Office for National Statistics' (ONS) latest retail monitor, which concluded on November 23, captured only a partial picture of consumer...

Retail

UK retail sales marginally rise in November as consumers hold back spending

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown a marginal rise in retail sales volumes for the month of November, a slight increase that was offset by consumers waiting for discount periods in the following month. According to the data, sales were estimated to have risen by 0.2 percent, following a fall of 0.7 percent in...

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UK sees highest inflation rates since March, clothing drives up figures

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed an increase in inflation once again. According to the data, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 2.6 percent in the 12 months to November 2024, increasing from 2.3 percent in the 12 months to October. On a monthly basis, meanwhile, CPI rose 0.1 percent for the month,...

Retail

Five retail leaders respond to ONS August sales data

UK retail sales showed unexpected strength in August, driven by warmer weather and end-of-season discounts, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. The data revealed a 2.4 percent increase in sales by value and a 2.3 percent rise by volume, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), surpassing economists'...

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Bank of England maintains interest rate at 5 percent

The Bank of England has placed the UK’s interest rate on hold at 5 percent after it was reported that inflation rates stayed at 2.2 percent in August, above the bank’s 2 percent target. The widely-expected decision was made following a meeting by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), who voted by a majority of eight to one to maintain the current...

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UK inflation edges up in July for first time this year

After a promising few months of falling inflation in the UK, it appears that such an outcome wasn’t able to extend into July 2024, with headline inflation once again rising to 2.2 percent. This is according to the latest CPI figures, collected by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which showed that, despite food inflation remaining...

Retail

UK retail sales rise in May, clothing retailers welcome rebound

One day on from the report that inflation had finally hit Bank of England’s target, dropping to 2 percent, there appears to be more good news on the horizon for UK retailers. New figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown that retail sales volumes rose by 2.9 percent in May following a slight 1.8 percent drop in April....

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UK inflation drops to 2 percent, hitting Bank of England targets

New figures drawn up by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown inflation in the UK fell to 2 percent during May, hitting the Bank of England’s target. According to ONS, the consumer prices index (CPI) rose 2 percent in the 12 months to May 2024, dropping from 2.3 percent in the 12 months to April. Including owner occupiers’ housing...

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UK economy doesn’t budge for April

New data by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has reported that the monthly real gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK showed no growth for the month of April, despite seeing a subtle 0.4 percent increase in March. Real GDP, meanwhile, was estimated to have grown 0.7 percent in the three months to April 2024, compared with the three...

Retail

Retail sales drop in April as wet weather impacts footfall

Retail sales in the UK took a slight hit in April, dropping 2.3 percent over the period as poor weather impacted footfall. According to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), sales volumes fell across most sectors, including clothing, dropping below the previous figure of a 0.2 percent decline in March. Non-food stores saw their...