ONS Retail Sales March 2025

Retail sales (value, non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel) rose by 2.8% year-on-year (YoY) in March according to the latest ONS data. It compares to a 3.6% rise a year earlier.
In volume terms (non-seasonally adjusted, exc. fuel), retail sales rose by 2.0% YoY in March. It compares to a weak 0.7% 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 dipped by 0.9% YoY in March. This compares to a 5.0% rise a year earlier during higher levels of inflation. Adjusting for inflation, volume declines deepened to -3.3% against a modest 0.4% rise in the previous year.
Non-food sales rebounded to 2022 levels in March, with both values and volumes rising by 5.6% and 5.7% respectively.
Clothing sales volumes edged up 1.7% on last year in March, marking its strongest rate since September. Footwear and Leather Goods volumes rose by 3.7%.
Household Goods volumes jumped 6.9% YoY, but sales remain down on pandemic and pre-pandemic levels. Electrical Household Appliances drove volume growth, up by 9.3% in March.
Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics and Toiletries volumes remained in decline in March, down by 3.3% despite Mother’s Day gifting.

Online

Online sales values rose by 4.9% YoY in March, against a 2.4% rise a year earlier.
Household Goods declined 5.8% in March, having been in decline since February 2024. Clothing & Footwear jumped 6.8%.
Non-store retailing (a proxy for pureplay retailers) rose by 2.8% YoY in the month, against a 2.6% rise a year earlier.
The proportion of retail sales made online was 26.3% in March, compared to 25.8% a year earlier.
Overall, average weekly online sales edged up to £2.35bn in March.

Retail sales price deflator

The retail sales deflator (a measure of inflation specific to retail) rose by 0.3% including fuel, and 0.8% when excluding fuel.
The implied price deflator among food edged up to 2.4% in March, the lowest rate since December. Among non-food stores, the price deflator was flat.