Easter And Warm Weather Boosted April Retail Sales

The ONS has published retail sales data for April.

Main points:

• Retail sales volumes (quantity bought) are estimated to have risen by 1.2% in April 2025. This follows a rise of 0.1% in March 2025 (revised down from a rise of 0.4% in the last ONS bulletin). Sales volumes rose by 5.0% in the year to April 2025.
  
  
• Four months of rising sales volumes led to a 1.8% rise across the three months to April 2025, when compared with the three months to January 2025. This was the largest three-monthly rise since July 2021. There was a 2.6% rise in sales volumes compared with the same period last year, the largest since March 2022

• Volumes were up by 0.3%, compared with their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level in February 2020, reaching their highest level since July 2022.
  
  

• Food stores sales volumes rose by 3.9%, mostly recovering from falls in February and March 2025. Supermarkets, specialist food stores such as butchers and bakers, and alcohol and tobacco stores all grew during the month, with some retailers attributing this to the good weather.

• Non-food stores sales volumes (the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores) fell by 0.7% over the month. This was because of falls in clothing stores and other non-food stores (such as sports and games retailers, and second-hand goods stores). These falls in sales volumes mainly followed strong growth in March 2025. Sales for department stores and household goods stores rose on the month, with retailer comments again mentioning the good weather.
  
  
• The Met Office climate summaries reported that the UK had its sunniest and third warmest April on record, and recorded just over half the normal rainfall seen for April.

• The amount spent online, known as "online spending values", fell by 0.3% over the month to April 2025. Sales values however rose by 6.1% when comparing April 2025 with April 2024, and by 3.4% when comparing the three months to April 2025 with the three months to January 2025.

• Total spend (the sum of in-store and online sales) rose by 0.7% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online fell from 27.1% in March 2025 to 26.8% in April 2025.

Commentary 

PwC

Commenting on the Office of National Statistics retail sales index for April 2025, Jacqueline Windsor, Head of Retail at PwC UK:  

"As the great British weather extended its streak into the sunniest April on record - just in time for a late Easter - retail sales continued their positive momentum of earlier in the year, with headline volume growth up 1.2% on the previous month."

"Compared with last year, and adjusted for the timing of Easter, sales volumes were up across every category of retail, and by 5.3% across the sector as a whole, excluding petrol. In pound note terms and therefore including inflation, this meant that UK retailers saw 6.2% more sales than last April, or 0.8% more than last month."

"While grocery, home and garden products were the biggest beneficiaries compared with March – no surprise given the later timing of school holidays – even fashion and other speciality retailers saw year-on-year growth, albeit continuing the trend from the previous month. Fashion retailers saw their first quarter of year-on-year growth since August 2023 as shoppers rushed to refresh their spring-summer wardrobes to take advantage of the good weather." 

"The sunshine and later school holidays also brought shoppers out to the high street in force, with footfall up across the board, and penetration of online retail sales falling back from 27.1% to 26.8%." 

"While the start of 2025 has proven to be a relief for retailers after a volatile few years, and in contrast to what falling consumer sentiment and some of the wider global economic and political turmoil may be indicating, they will be hoping that this current trading is no flash in the pan. In the short term, some of April's performance may have pulled forward sales from later in the spring, while rising inflation and the prospect of slower interest rate cuts risk eating into shoppers’ spending power later in the year."

British Retail Consortium

Responding to the latest ONS Retail Sales Index figures, which showed sales up 6.2% by value, and up 5.3% by volume, Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium, said:

“April retail sales saw the highest growth since August 2023 thanks to Easter and the sunniest April on record. With the first taste of summer, consumer spending was up across the board, with sales of food and drink performing particularly well as people hosted Easter gatherings, barbecues, and picnics. Sales of clothing and footwear were also boosted as consumers refreshed their summer wardrobes for the unseasonally warm weather.

“Darker days are coming as April brought an additional £5bn in costs to retailers from increases in Employer National Insurance Contributions and NLW. This is set to increase to £7bn once the new packaging tax is introduced later this year. On top of this, proposed changes to business rates could see 4,000 shops facing higher costs, putting local jobs and businesses at risk across the country. If the Government wants to protect our high streets, it must ensure no shop pays more under the reforms.”

Source : ONS, PwC, BRC

Image : shutterstock / 1137631598 / William Barton

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