ONS Retail Sales December 2025

Retail sales (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel) increased by just 1.7% year-on-year (YoY) in December according to the latest ONS data. It compares to a 4.7% decline a year earlier.
In volume terms (non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel), retail sales were broadly flat at 0.1% YoY in December. It compares to a 3.8% uplift a year ago.
It should be noted that ONS figures are based on a sample of some 5,000 retailers and are subject to revisions. The non-seasonally adjusted figures reported in this quick release have not been impacted by the ONS’s “quality assurance” revisions made in today’s release.

Retail sales value and volume growth – percentage change on a year earlier

Source: ONS, Retail Economics analysis

Note: all retail sales figures provided below are non-seasonally adjusted, excluding Fuel, unless stated otherwise.

Food and non-food

Food sales values rose by a soft 3.6% YoY in December, against a 1.7% rise a year earlier. Adjusting for rising inflation, food sales were broadly flat, down by 0.2%.
Non-food sales slipped into decline in December, as Black Friday fell out of the December trading period this year, with values and volumes down by 0.3% and down by 0.6% respectively.
Clothing sales values rose by 5.8% YoY growth, while volumes rose by 4.9%. Despite recent growth, volumes remain below pre-pandemic levels. Footwear and Leather Goods volumes stepped up 8.1%.
Household Goods volumes increased 2.5% YoY in December. Electrical Household Appliances declined 4.6% following a Black Friday splurge in November. Furniture & Lighting rose by 11.4% against weak comparatives (-4.6%).
Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and Toiletries volumes plunged 13.0% in December.

Online

Online sales values rose by 2.7% YoY in December, against a rise of 8.2% in the previous year.
Clothing & Footwear rose 5.2% YoY and Household Goods declined by 1.1%, impacted by the timing of Black Friday trading period.
Non-store retailing (a proxy for pureplay retailers) increased by 4.6% YoY in the month, against a similar 4.5% rise a year earlier.
The proportion of retail sales made online rose to 29.3% in December, compared to 29.0% a year earlier.
Overall, average weekly online sales increased to £3.3bn in December.

Retail sales price deflator

The retail sales deflator (a measure of inflation specific to retail) rose by 1.6% excluding fuel, and 1.7% including fuel.
The implied price deflator among food edged up to 3.8. Among non-food stores, the price deflator was broadly flat at 0.2%.