AGL 38.05 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (1.28%)
AIRLINK 131.20 Decreased By ▼ -1.30 (-0.98%)
BOP 5.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.89%)
CNERGY 3.79 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.53%)
DCL 8.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.35%)
DFML 40.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-0.44%)
DGKC 88.02 Decreased By ▼ -2.14 (-2.37%)
FCCL 35.12 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.11%)
FFBL 66.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-0.75%)
FFL 10.34 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (1.87%)
HUBC 108.71 Increased By ▲ 2.31 (2.17%)
HUMNL 14.10 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (5.22%)
KEL 4.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.03%)
KOSM 6.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
MLCF 41.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-0.91%)
NBP 59.53 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.62%)
OGDC 180.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.64 (-0.35%)
PAEL 25.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-1.05%)
PIBTL 5.89 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (1.03%)
PPL 145.25 Decreased By ▼ -3.15 (-2.12%)
PRL 23.28 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.26%)
PTC 15.25 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.07%)
SEARL 67.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-1.31%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.69%)
TPLP 7.45 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.68%)
TREET 14.10 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.98%)
TRG 50.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.34 (-0.67%)
UNITY 26.40 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,764 Decreased By -4.1 (-0.04%)
BR30 29,497 Increased By 97.1 (0.33%)
KSE100 91,789 Decreased By -149 (-0.16%)
KSE30 28,631 Decreased By -112.5 (-0.39%)

LONDON: British retail sales fell more sharply than expected in July as heavy rain put off shoppers who are also feeling the hit from high inflation and 14 back-to-back increases in interest rates.

Official data showed sales volumes last month were 1.2% lower than in June.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that sales volumes would fall by 0.5% on the month. Sterling weakened against the US dollar and the euro as investors assessed how much the bigger-than-expected sales drop represented a warning sign of a slowdown in the economy, beyond the weather effect.

Retail sales volumes were 3.2% lower than a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said. That compared with economists’ forecasts for a 2.1% decline.

UK retail sales volumes slide at fastest rate since April: CBI

“Retail sales fell sharply in July as poor weather impacted most sectors,” ONS Deputy Director for Surveys and Economic Indicators Heather Bovill said “It was a particularly bad month for supermarkets as the summer washout combined with the increased cost of living meant sluggish sales for both clothing and food.

Department store and household goods sales also dropped significantly.“ Many shoppers went online rather than venture out into the rain with 27.4% of retail sales taking place via the internet, up from 26.0% in June and the highest share since February 2022. Food stores sales volumes fell by a monthly 2.6% while non-food stores sales volumes fell by 1.7%.

As well as the unpredictability of Britain’s weather, consumers have been hit by high inflation which stood at almost 7% last month, down from a peak of about 11% last October but still the highest among the world’s large rich economies.

However, July’s data represented only the second time that sales volumes fell on a month-to-month basis so far in 2023, suggesting some resilience in consumer demand.

Comments

Comments are closed.