UK Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall in August

British retail sales volumes fell unexpectedly last month, official data showed on Friday, the longest streak of declines since records began, although sales volumes are still above pre-pandemic levels.

The Office for National Statistics said sales fell 0.9 percent month-on-month in August, compared to the median forecast of economists in a Reuters poll, for an increase of 0.5 percent, falling for the fourth consecutive month after data for previous months were revised down.

The statistics office said that the decline in August reflected in part the decline in sales of supermarkets, with more people eating out after the easing of anti-Covid-19 restrictions.

Sales volumes are still 4.6 percent above their level in February 2020 before they were first affected by the pandemic.

Retail sales fell 2.8 percent month-on-month in July, which stores attributed to bad weather and the preference of some shoppers to watch England’s Euro 2020 matches that took place this month, the Office for National Statistics announced.