Retail sales volumes in the United Kingdom in August increased 0.4% compared to the previous month, the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday. The figure was lower than analysts had expected.
The largest positive contribution came from food stores, where sales volumes climbed 1.2% month on month. Non-food stores sales rose 0.6%, while the growth was somewhat offset by declines of 1.3% in non-store retailing and 1.2% in automotive fuel sales.
Retail sales were up 17.3% from pre-COVID-19 levels from February 2020 in value terms, but were 1.5% down in terms of volumes. Online sales as a proportion of all sales stood at 26.9%, falling from 27.4% reported in July.
