United Kingdom Retail Sales Mom

Retail sales in the UK increased 1.7% month-over-month in January 2025, surpassing market expectations of 0.3% gain and rebounding from an upwardly revised 0.6% fall in December 2024. This marked the strongest expansion since May 2024, with sales in food stores (5.6%) showing a sharp increase, the largest rise since March 2020. This growth was driven by higher sales in supermarkets, specialist food stores such as butchers and bakers, as well as alcohol and tobacco stores. Meanwhile, sales declined for non-food stores (-0.6%), textile clothing and footwear stores (-2.7%), household goods stores (-1.7%) and automotive fuel (-1.2%). Excluding fuel, retail sales rose 2.1% from a month earlier in January 2025. On a yearly basis, retail sales grew 1%, slowing from a downwardly revised 2.8% in December 2024, although beating market forecasts of 0.6% gain.