ONS Retail Sales April 2026

Retail sales (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel) grew by 1.3% year-on-year (YoY) in April according to the latest ONS data. It compares to a 7.9% uplift a year earlier, impacted by the timing of Easter (Good Friday fell into the March reporting period this year, compared to April last year, making for a tough comparative).
In volume terms (non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel), retail sales declined by 1.6% YoY in April. It compares to a 0.9% rise a year ago.
It should be noted that ONS figures are based on a sample of some 5,000 retailers and are subject to revisions.

Retail sales value and volume growth – percentage change on a year earlier

Source: ONS, Retail Economics analysis

Note: all retail sales figures provided below are non-seasonally adjusted, excluding Fuel, unless stated otherwise.

Food and non-food

Food sales values slipped 1.8% YoY in April, against 10.5% surge a year earlier. Adjusting for rising inflation, food sales slumped 5.0%, impacted by the timing of Easter and a focus on value as fuel prices stepped up.
Non-food sales values increased by 2.6% in April, while volumes edged up 0.5% supported by Health & Beauty as consumers focus on wellbeing.
Clothing sales values rose by 1.4% YoY, while volumes declined by 0.4%. Footwear and Leather Goods volumes plunged 11.4%.
Household Goods volumes edged down 0.2% YoY in April. Electrical Household Appliances declined by 2.6%, while Furniture & Lighting increased 1.9%.
Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and Toiletries volumes rocketed 15.6% in April.

Online

Online sales values rose by 5.6% YoY in April, against a 7.6% rise in the previous year.
Clothing & Footwear rose by just 0.4% YoY and Household Goods increased 5.3% in April.
Non-store retailing (a proxy for pureplay retailers) jumped 8.2% YoY in the month, against a 6.1% rose year earlier.
The proportion of retail sales made online rose to 27.3% in April, compared to 26.2% a year earlier.
Overall, average weekly online sales increased to £2.5bn in April.

Retail sales price deflator

The retail sales deflator (a measure of inflation specific to retail) rose by 3.0% excluding fuel, and 4.6% including fuel.
The implied price deflator among food rose by 3.4%. Among non-food stores, the price deflator rose to its highest level since February 2024 and 2.0% in April.