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Investing.com -- UK retail sales showed continued strength in September 2025, despite ongoing concerns about the upcoming UK Budget, according to Jefferies’ first Monthly UK Retail Sales Review.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported non-food retail sales grew 3.6% year-over-year in September, outpacing the 2025 year-to-date average of 2.8% and significantly exceeding 2024’s average growth of 1.0%.
Electrical goods continued their strong performance with 8.9% growth in September, maintaining the category’s impressive run after shifting from a -3.0% decline in 2024 to approximately 10% growth year-to-date in 2025.
Clothing retailers also performed well, with the ONS reporting 8.0% growth for the category in September, consistent with its recent three-month trend of 7.2% growth.
Barclaycard data showed furniture retailers experienced 7.5% growth in September, continuing the category’s strong 2025 performance of 5.3% growth year-to-date.
However, not all retail segments saw positive results. According to Barclaycard, discount stores underperformed significantly in September with revenue declining 5.8% year-over-year, worsening from an already weak year-to-date performance of -1.9%.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported like-for-like retail sales growth of approximately 2% in September, while BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker showed approximately 4% growth for the month.
Early October data from BDO indicates a potential slowdown, with the first two weeks showing a decline of approximately 1% across total retail sales.
Jefferies noted that the differential between wage growth and CPI continues to narrow, which is a key indicator for the sector’s like-for-like outlook, while the savings ratio remains in the 10-12% corridor, historically marking the cyclical high point for consumer savings outside of the COVID period.