United Kingdom Retail Sales Mom

Retail sales in the UK rose 1% month-over-month in February 2025, defying expectations of a 0.3% fall, following a downwardly revised 1.4% gain in the previous month. Sales in household goods stores surged by 6.8%, marking the strongest monthly gain since April 2021, with hardware stores having the largest upward contribution. Sales also increased in other non-food stores (3.1%), textile, clothing & footwear stores (2.3%), department stores (0.7%), and automotive fuel (0.7%). However, food store sales declined by 2%. Excluding fuel, retail sales grew 1% from a month earlier in February, after a 1.6% increase in January. On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 2.2% in February, beating forecasts of a 0.5% rise and accelerating from a downwardly revised 0.6% growth in the prior month.