Retail sales in the UK returned to growth in June, significantly beating gloomy expectations and providing a welcome boost to an economy struggling amidst Brexit uncertainty.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales volumes rose 1% compared with May, reversing a fall the previous month which was hit by a rainy start to the summer. Non-food stores were said to have provided the largest contribution to this growth.
The year-on-year growth rate shows that the quantity bought in June increased by 3.8%, with growth across all sectors except department stores.
Surprisingly, online sales as a proportion of all retailing fell to 18.9% last month, from the 19.3% reported in May.
“Retail as a whole saw a return to growth in the month of June, mainly due to growth in non-food stores with increased sales in second-hand goods, including charity shops and antiques,” said ONS statistician Rhian Murphy said.
But, she added: “Retail sales growth slowed in the latest three months as food stores saw falling sales for the first time this year and department stores continued their steady decline.”
In the three months to June, retail sales grew by 0.7% compared to the previous three months, weakening from 1.6% expansion in the three months to May.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, commented: “Looking ahead, although jobs growth has slowed a bit, decent wage growth will probably mean that household real incomes will still rise by around 2% this year.
“That suggests households still have the ability to spend. What happens with Brexit may determine whether or not they want to spend.”
