Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 1 August 2024

• Overall retail footfall increased by 4% in the week to 28 July 2024 when compared with the previous week, coinciding with the start of school summer holidays; this was 1% above the level in the equivalent week of 2023 (MRI OnLocation).

• The year-on-year growth rate for sales by small businesses was at negative 5% in June 2024, down 15 percentage points from the growth rate in June 2023; the year-on-year growth rate for employees in paid jobs in small businesses was at 1%, remaining broadly unchanged from the rate a year before (Xero).

• The total number of online job adverts on 26 July 2024 increased by 6% when compared with the previous week but was 12% lower than the equivalent week of 2023 (Adzuna).

• When asked in late July 2024, more than a quarter (28%) of businesses with 10 or more employees reported they had purchased goods or services from a UK nation other than their own in the last 12 months; this is the highest reported figure since the question was introduced in October 2023 (final results from wave 113 of the Business Insights and Conditions Survey).

• The System Price of electricity increased by 7% in the week to 28 July 2024 compared with the previous week, to 7.883 pence per kilowatt hour, however, this was 3% lower than the level seen in the equivalent week of 2023; meanwhile, the System Average Price (SAP) of gas rose by 7% from the equivalent week in 2023, to 2.514 pence per kilowatt hour (Elexon, National Gas Transmission).

• The daily average number of UK flights increased by 1% in the week to 28 July 2024 when compared with the previous week; this was 4% higher than the equivalent week of 2023 (EUROCONTROL).

Notes:

1. Card spending over time is pushed upwards by the impacts of both inflation on value of transactions and cash-to-card conversion.
2. Revolut adjustments to user count are at an aggregate level and as such age bands may not adjust evenly.
3. Indicators with SA in the title have been seasonally adjusted.

This section lists a selection of the data available in this publication. For the full list of available datasets, please see our accompanying dataset page.

Real-time indicator

A real-time indicator provides insights into economic activity using close-to-real-time big data, administrative data sources, rapid response surveys or experimental estimates, which represent useful economic and social concepts.

Seasonal adjustment

Seasonal adjustment is the identification and removal of consistent and systematic variation in time series that is associated with the time of year. For more information on seasonal variation, and how we implement seasonal adjustment, see Section 2: How we measure real-time indicators of our Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators methodology article.

Official statistics in development

These statistics are labelled as official statistics in development. Until September 2023, these were called "experimental statistics". Read more about the change in our Guide to official statistics in development.

We are developing how we collect and produce the data to improve the quality of these statistics. Find out more in our Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators methodology article.

Once the developments are complete, we will review the statistics with the Statistics Head of Profession. We will decide if the statistics are of sufficient quality and value to be published as official statistics, or if further development is needed. Production may be stopped if they are not of sufficient quality or value. Users will be informed of the outcome and any changes.

We value your feedback on these statistics. If you would like to get in touch, please email realtime.indicators@ons.gov.uk.

Dataset release dates and intended release frequency

Latest release dates and intended release frequency of our associated datasets are available in this section. Please note that there may be some change to the intended release frequency for a variety of reasons, such as data availability. If you would like further information about any of these datasets, or previous release dates, please email realtime.indicators@ons.gov.uk.

Weekly data release

• The UK spending on credit and debit cards dataset was last updated on 16 May 2024.

• The Revolut spending on debit cards dataset was last updated on 1 February 2024.

• The Automotive fuel spending dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The Online job advert estimates dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The Company incorporations, voluntary dissolutions and compulsory dissolutions dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The Advanced notification of potential redundancies dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The System Average price of gas dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The System Price of electricity dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

• The Weekly shipping indicators dataset was last updated on 5 April 2024.

• The Daily UK flights dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

Fortnightly data release

• The Transactions at Pret A Manger dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

Monthly data release

• The Monthly Direct Debit failure rate and average transaction amount dataset was last updated on 25 July 2024.

• The Value Added Tax, flash estimates dataset was last updated on 25 July 2024.

• The Renter affordability for new tenancies dataset was last updated on 11 July 2024.

• The Sales and jobs in small businesses dataset was last updated on 1 August 2024.

Strengths and limitations

These statistics have been produced to provide timely indicators of the effect of developing world events on the UK economy and society, using close-to-real-time big data, administrative data sources, rapid response surveys, or official statistics in development.

The data presented in this bulletin are reviewed and refreshed on a regular basis. Indicators are swapped in and out of the publication based on their suitability and availability.

Seasonality

Seasonal fluctuations are likely to be present in many of these indicators, so caution must be applied when interpreting changes in series that are not seasonally adjusted.