ONS Retail Sales September 2025

Retail sales (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel) rose 3.8% year-on-year (YoY) in September according to the latest ONS data. It compares to a soft 2.0% rise a year earlier.
In volume terms (non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel), retail sales increased by a 2.0% YoY in September – the strongest since April. It compares to a 2.1% 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 rose by 2.5% YoY in September. This compares to a weak 1.0% decline a year earlier. Adjusting for rising inflation, volumes declined by 1.2% against a 2.3% decrease a year earlier.
Non-food sales rose in September, with values and volumes rising by 3.6% and 3.1% respectively.
Clothing sales values stepped up by 8.0% on last year in September, while volumes rose by 6.8%. Despite this, volumes remain down on 2019 levels.
Footwear and Leather Goods volumes edged up by just 1.2%, impacted by weak seasonal demand.
Household Goods volumes accelerated to 5.9% YoY in September. Electrical Household Appliances jumped 12.0% – marking a half a year of double-digit rises. Furniture & Lighting rose by 6.6% against weak comparatives (-11.0%), while Flooring plunged 12.2%.
Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and Toiletries volumes remained in decline, falling by 0.9% in September.

Online

Online sales values rose by 5.2% YoY in September, against a strong 6.8% rise a year earlier.
Clothing & Footwear surged 5.3% YoY, while Household Goods edged up 2.2% in September.
Non-store retailing (a proxy for pureplay retailers) accelerated to 6.7% YoY growth in the month, against a 1.6% rise a year earlier.
The ONS noted online jewellers reported continued strong demand for gold.
The proportion of retail sales made online rose to 27.5% in September, compared to 27.1% a year earlier.
Overall, average weekly online sales edged up to £2.45bn in September.

Retail sales price deflator

The retail sales deflator (a measure of inflation specific to retail) rose by 1.7% excluding fuel, and 1.6% including fuel.
The implied price deflator among food eased to 3.7% – its softest rate since May. Among non-food stores, the price deflator remained soft at 0.5%.