PwC comments on April 2025 ONS retail sales figures

Commenting on the Office of National Statistics retail sales index for April 2025, Jacqueline Windsor, Head of Retail at PwC UK: 

"As the great British weather extended its streak into the sunniest April on record - just in time for a late Easter - retail sales continued their positive momentum of earlier in the year, with headline volume growth up 1.2% on the previous month."

"Compared with last year, and adjusted for the timing of Easter, sales volumes were up across every category of retail, and by 5.3% across the sector as a whole, excluding petrol. In pound note terms and therefore including inflation, this meant that UK retailers saw 6.2% more sales than last April, or 0.8% more than last month."

"While grocery, home and garden products were the biggest beneficiaries compared with March – no surprise given the later timing of school holidays – even fashion and other speciality retailers saw year-on-year growth, albeit continuing the trend from the previous month. Fashion retailers saw their first quarter of year-on-year growth since August 2023 as shoppers rushed to refresh their spring-summer wardrobes to take advantage of the good weather."

"The sunshine and later school holidays also brought shoppers out to the high street in force, with footfall up across the board, and penetration of online retail sales falling back from 27.1% to 26.8%."

"While the start of 2025 has proven to be a relief for retailers after a volatile few years, and in contrast to what falling consumer sentiment and some of the wider global economic and political turmoil may be indicating, they will be hoping that this current trading is no flash in the pan. In the short term, some of April's performance may have pulled forward sales from later in the spring, while rising inflation and the prospect of slower interest rate cuts risk eating into shoppers’ spending power later in the year."