Retail sales jumped by more than expected in February, official data showed on Friday.
According to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes were estimated to have grown by 1.2% month-to-month, following upwardly-revised growth of 0.9% in January.
It is the largest monthly increase since October 2022, which benefited from the additional bank holiday for the Queen’s state funeral, and returns sales volumes to February 2020, pre-pandemic. Analysts had been expected a rise of just 0.2%.
Year-on-year, sales volumes were down 3.5%, and off 0.3% in the three months to February when compared to the previous quarter.
Driving February’s increase were non-food sales, up 2.4% compared to January’s 1.0% rise. Within that, sales in department stores rose 5.5% while clothing shops saw a 2.9% jump. The ONS attributed growth in both sub-sectors to strong sales at discount stores.
There was also strong growth in second-hand goods stores, the ONS noted, such as auction houses and charity shops.
Food sales volumes rose 0.9% compared to 0.1% in January. The ONS said there was some anecdotal evidence of reduced spending in restaurants and on takeaways, because of cost of living pressures.
Earlier this week, data showed that inflation had unexpectedly increased to 10.4% in February, while on Thursday, the Bank of England increased the cost of borrowing by 25 basis points to 4.25%.
