Retail sales, Great Britain: December 2024

Retail sales volumes (quantity bought) are estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in December 2024, following a small rise of 0.1% in November 2024 (revised down from 0.2% in our last publication).

Falls in supermarkets were partly offset by a rise in non-food stores, such as clothing retailers, which rebounded from falls in recent months.

Looking at the quarter, sales volumes fell by 0.8% in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 compared with Quarter 3 (Jul to Sept) 2024 but rose by 1.9% compared with Quarter 4 2023.

The chart shows the quantity bought in retail sales over time, for both the rolling three-month-on-three-month and the month-on-month movement.

Seasonally adjusted sales volumes fell by 0.3% during December 2024, following a 0.1% rise in November. Over the year to December 2024, sales volumes rose by 3.6%, following a large fall in December 2023.

When compared with their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level in February 2020, volumes were down by 2.5%.

More broadly, there was a 0.8% fall across the three months to December 2024 (Quarter 4), when compared with the three months to September 2024 (Quarter 3). When comparing with the same period last year, there was a 1.9% rise. These data are available in our Retail Sales Index datasets.

In 2024, the official date for Black Friday was 29 November, falling within our December reporting period, which covers five weeks from 24 November to 28 December 2024.

Looking at our non-seasonally adjusted data (which doesn't adjust for Black Friday being in the December 2024 reporting period or usual Christmas spending in December) sales volumes rose by 10.0% over the month to December 2024.

However, this change in the timing of Black Friday is accounted for by our seasonal adjustment approach. Some retailers reported that Black Friday sales started well in advance of the official day. We talk more about the treatment of Black Friday in our Wrapping up 'Black Friday': How the ONS captures the effect of a major shopping trend blog post.

Food stores sales volumes fell 1.9% on the month, putting index levels at their lowest since April 2013. The monthly fall was strongest within supermarkets, but sales volumes also fell in specialist food stores (such as butchers and bakers), and alcohol and tobacco stores (including vaping shops). Retailer commentary reported lower than expected sales performance.

This fall was partly offset by a rise in non-food stores sales volumes (the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores) which increased by 1.1% over the month. Clothing stores had the largest upward contribution, rising by 4.4% in December, rebounding from falls of 3.5% in November 2024 and 3.3% in October 2024. Department stores and household goods stores also rose over the month which retailers attributed to stronger Christmas sales.

The amount spent online, known as "online spending values", rose by 1.5% during December 2024, the first monthly rise since September 2024. Sales values rose by 1.7% when comparing December 2024 with December 2023, but fell by 3.3% when comparing Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024 with Quarter 3 (Jul to Sept) 2024.

Total spend – the sum of in-store and online sales – rose by 0.1% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online increased from 26.5% in November 2024 to 27.0% in December.

Retail sales volumes rose by 0.7% in 2024, following a fall of 2.9% in 2023 and of 4.1% in 2022. Although this marked the first rise in three years, sales volumes have not returned to 2022 levels.

In 2024, all main sectors, except food stores, rose on the year. Despite food stores sales volumes falling in 2024, this was a smaller fall than in 2022 and 2023.

While in 2024 non-food stores remain below their 2022 levels, sales volumes for non-store retailers and automotive fuel sales have both recovered beyond their 2023 fall.

For December 2024, the Retail Sales Index (RSI) response rates were 59.0%, based on returned forms. This accounted for 91.9% of total turnover coverage of the sample population. For historical response information, see our Retail sales quality tables dataset.

Information on how we calculated the data, including strengths and limitations, and a glossary of relevant terms, is available in our Retail Sales Index Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in March 2015. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".