Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 31 May 2024

• In the latest week, overall retail footfall decreased by 1% when compared with the previous week, while the annual growth rate in average fuel prices rose by 1 percentage point (MRI OnLocation, Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero).

• The seasonally adjusted total Direct Debit failure rate fell by 1% in April 2024 when compared with the previous month, but was 7% higher when compared with April 2023; meanwhile, the monthly average electricity and gas Direct Debit transaction amount fell by 1% when compared with March 2024, which was 13% below April 2023, coinciding with the fall in the energy price cap on 1 April 2024 (Vocalink and Pay.UK).

• The total number of online job adverts on 24 May 2024 increased by 3% from the level in the previous week but was 18% lower than the equivalent week of 2023 (Adzuna).

• In the week to 26 May 2024, the System Price of electricity increased by 4% compared with the previous week and was 36% above the equivalent week of 2023; meanwhile, the System Average Price (SAP) of gas increased by 13% compared with the previous week and is now 28% higher than the equivalent week of 2023 (Elexon, National Gas Transmission).

• In the week to 28 May 2024, the daily average number of UK flights increased by 4% compared with the previous week and was 5% 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.

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. Read 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 whether the statistics are of sufficient quality and value to be published as official statistics, or whether 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. Contact us at 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 the following list. Please note that there may be some change to the intended release frequency because of 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 31 May 2024.
• The Online job advert estimates dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.
• The Company incorporations, voluntary dissolutions and compulsory dissolutions dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.
• The Advanced notification of potential redundancies dataset was last updated on 16 May 2024.
• The System Average price of gas dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.
• The System Price of electricity dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.
• The Traffic camera activity dataset was last updated on 16 May 2024.
• The Weekly shipping indicators dataset was last updated on 5 April 2024.
• The Daily UK flights dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.

Fortnightly data release

• The Transactions at Pret A Manger dataset was last updated on 2 May 2024.

Monthly data release

• The Monthly Direct Debit failure rate and average transaction amount dataset was last updated on 31 May 2024.
• The Value Added Tax, flash estimates dataset was last updated on 18 April 2024.
• The Renter affordability for new tenancies dataset was last updated on 10 May 2024.
• The Sales and jobs in small businesses dataset was last updated on 2 May 2024.

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.

UK coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions

Coronavirus restrictions should be considered when interpreting the data featured throughout this bulletin.

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.