Retail sales, Great Britain: July 2026

The quantity of goods bought (volume) in retail sales is estimated to have risen by 1.1% in the three months to July 2026, compared with the three months to April 2026. Non-store retailers' sales volumes rose, attributed to promotions, sports merchandise and the weather boosting sales of items such as fans. Supermarkets' sales volumes also performed well in the hot weather, alongside sales of alcoholic drinks and beverages.

Retail sales volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.5% in July 2026. This follows a rise of 0.7% in June 2026 (revised down from a 1.0% rise in our previous bulletin), and a rise of 1.3% in May 2026 (revised up from a 1.2% rise in our previous bulletin). Non-food stores and non-store retailers fell back in July, which retailers attributed to demand being brought forward to June because of earlier than usual promotional activity.

Sales volumes rose by 1.1% in the three months to July 2026 compared with the three months to April 2026, an increase of 3.0% compared with the three months to July 2025.

In July 2026, sales volumes:

• fell by 0.5% over the month, following a rise of 0.7% in June 2026
• rose by 1.6% compared with July 2025
• fell by 0.1% compared with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level in February 2020

These data are available in our Retail Sales Index dataset.

Sales volumes rose by 1.1% in the three months to July 2026 compared with the three months to April 2026. Non-store retailers’ sales volumes grew strongly in the months of May and June 2026. Retailers suggested that the hot weather and promotions helped sales of outdoor products and items such as fans, with clothing and sports merchandise also doing well. Food stores rose as supermarkets benefited from a good July period, while retailers selling alcoholic drinks and beverages performed well, which they attributed to promotions, the hot weather, and the World Cup.

Non-food stores sales volumes (the total of department, clothing, household, and other non-food stores) rose by 1.0% over the latest three months. Within household goods stores, furniture stores rose in both May and June. Clothing stores sales volumes also rose in May and June with retailers reporting a positive effect of sales promotions and the good weather.

Fuel sales fell in the three months to July 2026 compared with the three months to April 2026. Many retailers reported that the rise in sales volumes in March 2026 was because motorists had stocked up on fuel as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. This was followed by a fall in fuel sales in April 2026, as retailers suggested that motorists made fewer journeys and delayed filling their tanks as prices rose. Fuel sales volumes rose in July but have not recovered to February 2026 levels.

Total sales volumes (including automotive fuel) fell back by 0.5% over the month to July 2026, following strong sales in June, but were still at their second highest level since April 2022. Non-food stores fell by 1.3%, with a fall for clothing stores following June growth. Clothing retailers reported earlier promotions bringing sales forward from July into June alongside hot weather reducing footfall in July. There was evidence of reduced clothing promotions in July from our Consumer price inflation July 2026 release, which reported that the proportion of discounted items of clothing fell between June and July this year, contrasting with a rise in the same period last year.

Household goods stores fell back following high sales volumes across May and June, with furniture retailers reporting lower demand for certain products because of the heatwave. Department stores sales volumes also fell as retailers reported issues with stock availability. Meanwhile, non-store retailers’ sales volumes fell in July, attributed to promotions occurring earlier in June, yet volumes remained above May 2026 levels. Partially offsetting these falls, food stores sales volumes rose over the month to July, which retailers attributed to both the weather and the World Cup.

The amount spent online, known as “online spending values”, rose by 3.0% in the three months to July 2026 compared with the three months to April 2026. Online spending values rose by 11.0% on the three months to July 2025. Within the monthly series, online sales values fell by 3.9% over the month to July 2026, from an increase of 2.5% in June but were 6.5% higher compared with July 2025. The total spend (the sum of in-store and online sales) fell by 0.6% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online fell from 29.2% in June 2026 to 28.3% in July 2026.

For July 2026, the Retail Sales Index (RSI) survey response rates were 56.9% based on returned forms, which is 3.4 percentage points below the average of the past 12 months. This accounted for 88.4% of total turnover coverage of the sample population, 1.7 percentage points above the average of the past 12 months. Historical response information is available in our Retail sales quality tables dataset.

Information on how we calculated the data, including strengths and limitations, and a glossary of relevant terms, is available in our Retail Sales Index quality and methodology information (QMI) report.

Seasonal adjustment

Seasonally adjusted estimates are derived by estimating and removing calendar effects (for example, Easter moving between March and April), and seasonal effects (for example, increased spending in December because of Christmas) from the non-seasonally adjusted estimates.

We use the X-13ARIMA-SEATS approach to seasonal adjustment. Seasonal adjustment parameters are monitored closely and are regularly reviewed. Improvements following our full annual seasonal adjustment review were last implemented as part of the June 2026 release. More information is available in our Seasonal adjustment methodology.

Seasonal adjustment is applied at the industry level, and the seasonally adjusted series are aggregated to create estimates by industry sector and total retail. As part of our quality assurance approach, residual seasonality checks are completed regularly by our time series analysis team on both the seasonally adjusted series and the indirectly derived aggregate time series.

Based on current data, we find no residual seasonality in the main aggregate for monthly retail sales estimates. We have separately published our comprehensive methodology on How the Office for National Statistics (ONS) assesses statistical outputs for residual seasonality.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in March 2015. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".