Sales Slump As COVID-19 Hits The Economy....>

UK DATA: Sales Slump As COVID-19 Hits The Economy

--------------------------------------------------------------- 

- UK MAR RETAIL SALES -5.1% M/M; -5.8% Y/Y, BELOW BBG -5.0% M/M F/C 

- UK MAR RETAIL SALES EX-FUEL -3.7% M/M; -4.1% Y/Y 

- UK FEB TOTAL SALES UNREVISED AT -0.3% M/M 

- UK MAR RETAIL SALES DEFLATOR -0.2% Y/Y; EX-FUEL 0.3% Y/Y 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Retail sales plummeted by 5.1% in Mar, the largest decrease on record (series

began in 1996), while annual sales fell by a record level of 5.8%. The m/m

decline in sales was driven by non-food and fuel sales with clothing and

footwear showing the largest fall, dropping by 34.8% and leading to an overall

decrease of non-food stores by 19.4%. Food stores recorded the strongest growth

on record, rising by 10.4%, while non-store retailing edged up by 5.9%. Online

sales as a proportion of retailing reached a record high of 22.3% as consumers

changed their behaviour during the pandemic and switched to online shopping.

Quarterly sales slipped to -1.6% in Q1 which is the lowest level since Q1 2010.