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UK Retail Stats and Facts

World class providers of data, statistics and insight for the UK retail industry

Top 10 stats and facts about the UK retail sector

Our top 10 facts and stats about the UK retail sector. As a subscriber you have access to an entire suite of retail insights and data through your subscriber dashboard and our Help Desk. Take our a free, 30 day trial now >

1 Total value of UK retail sales in 2020 £403 bn
2 People employed in UK retail in 2020 2.9M
3 Proportion of consumer spending that goes through retail 1/3
4 Proportion of retail sales made online in 2020 28%
5 Growth in UK retail sales in 2020 2.2%
6 Total number of VAT-registered retailers in the UK in 2020 208,795
7 Total number of retail outlets in the UK in 2020 306,985
8 Amount retail generates of total GDP (GVA) 5%
9 Average annual growth of online retail sales in 2020 45%
10 Online sales have risen three fold in the last 10 years 324%
Source: ONS, Eurostat, Retail Economics

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About Retail Economics

We publish monthly retail economic and sector reports

December 2021

What you get out of our economic reports
  • Instant retail sales overview
  • Independent analysis
  • Actionable insight
  • Future retail trends
  • More time for high priority tasks
VIEW LATEST ECONOMIC REPORTS
UK Retail statistics Retail Economics

December 2021

What you get out of our sector reports
  • Analysis of seven different retail sectors
  • Independent analysis
  • Actionable insight
  • Future retail trends
  • More time for high priority tasks
VIEW LATEST SECTOR REPORTS

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