ONS Retail Sales July 2025

Retail sales (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel) rose 2.1% year-on-year (YoY) in July according to the latest ONS data. It compares to a 1.7% rise a year earlier.
In volume terms (non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel), retail sales increased by a weak 0.5% YoY in July. It compares to a soft 0.7% rise 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 were broadly flat at -0.1% YoY in July. This compares to a 2.2% rise a year earlier. Adjusting for rising inflation, volumes dipped by a substantial 3.6% against a 0.1% rose a year earlier.
Non-food sales values and volumes rose by 3.0% and 2.5% respectively in July.
Clothing sales values surged by 7.5% on last year in July, while volumes rose 6.6% supported by heatwaves and gatherings. Meanwhile, Footwear and Leather Goods volumes rose by 3.0%.
Household Goods volumes stepped up by 6.5% YoY, driven by a 14.0% jump in Electrical Household Appliances – marking a fourth consecutive month of double-digit rises.
Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and Toiletries has been in consistent decline since the start of this year, with volumes plunging by 8.9% in July.

Online

Online sales values rose by 3.4% YoY in July, against a 3.8% increase a year earlier.
Clothing & Footwear drove growth at 9.7%, while Household Goods remained in decline at 2.0% in July.
Non-store retailing (a proxy for pureplay retailers) increased by 3.2% YoY in the month, against a 5.0% increase a year earlier.
The proportion of retail sales made online was 27.2% in July, compared to 26.9% a year earlier.
Overall, average weekly online sales edged up to £2.5bn in July.

Retail sales price deflator

The retail sales deflator (a measure of inflation specific to retail) rose by 1.6% excluding fuel, and 0.9% including fuel.
The implied price deflator among food remained at its highest level since March last year at 3.7%. Among non-food stores, the price deflator remained soft at 0.5%.