Office for National Statistics<\/a> (ONS) said the total volume of retail sales, which measures the quantity bought, increased by 1.2% in May.<\/p>\nIt compared with a decline of 1% in April, which was revised from a 1.3% fall in its previous estimate.<\/p>\n
The latest monthly increase was stronger than expected, with analysts having pointed to a 0.5% rise for May.<\/p>\n
Economists linked May\u2019s strong performance to hotter weather during the month.<\/p>\n
Retailers said sales of outdoor furniture and fans were higher for the month due to the weather conditions and promotions.<\/p>\n
Sales volumes across non-store retailers, which predominantly consist of online retailers, rose by 6.1% for the month, representing the sharpest increase since February 2025.<\/p>\n
The ONS said the weather and discounting activity also boosted UK department stores, which reported a 2.5% increase.<\/p>\n
Household goods retailers also saw a 3.2% increase for the month while clothing and footwear shops also reported growth, at 0.3%.<\/p>\n
However, food retailers continued to report a decline in volumes, with a 0.4% decline month on month.<\/p>\n
Official data also showed that retail sales were up 0.4% for the three months to May, with the decline in April offsetting growth in both March and May.<\/p>\n
ONS senior statistician Jon Gough said: \u201cRetail sales continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace, in the most recent three months, with department stores doing especially well.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeedback from retailers suggested the hot weather in May helped sales of items such as fans and paddling pools.<\/p>\n
\u201cComputer and telecoms stores continued to do well following product launches in March while online retailers also performed strongly, with feedback suggesting that this was helped by promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Windsor, head of retail at PwC UK, said: \u201cAt face value, retail sales surprised on the upside in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, last month benefited from both a weak comparable period, with May 2025 seeing a decline in sales as shoppers brought forward their spring purchases following an unusually warm March and April; and the heatwave coinciding with the bank holiday and half-term towards the end of the month, which helped the sales of everything from barbecue foods and summer fashions, to fans and paddling pools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe high street itself did not benefit, though, with footfall declining and online retailers reaping the rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK retail sales in May were boosted by hot weather (Jonathan Brady\/PA) (PA Archive) UK retail sales bounced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,101630,1294,218596,1102,2094,148930,36792,56,54,55,12025],"class_list":["post-649394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-department-stores","tag-economy","tag-food-retailers","tag-hot-weather","tag-office-for-national-statistics","tag-online-retailers","tag-retail-sales","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-weather-conditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"UK](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0a73ff02f3c5609ff70a4ccc8337f1fd.jpeg\")
UK retail sales in May were boosted by hot weather (Jonathan Brady\/PA) (PA Archive) <\/p>\n