UK retail sales drops 1.2% in June due to poor weather, election uncertainty

Retail volume: -1.2% MoM (May: 2.9%); -0.2% YoY

Monthly growth rate of UK retail sales volume fell 1.2% in June, after a 2.9% increase in the previous month. The data series has been quite volatile since November with significant increases usually followed by a substantial decline in the following month.

The fall was driven by 2.1% drop in non-food stores sales, which comprises of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores, as the ONS cited “election uncertainty, poor weather, and low footfall“ as factors behind the decline.

Meanwhile, “poor weather and economic conditions” are blamed for the 1.05% drop in food stores retail sales. The fall was mostly seen in supermarket, ONS added.