UK Retail Sales Plunge 1.3 Percent as Fuel Demand Slumps in April

(MENAFN) Britain's retail sales volumes dropped sharply by 1.3 percent in April compared to the previous month, as drivers pulled back on fuel purchases following a surge in buying during March, official figures released Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.

The April decline reverses a 0.6 percent gain recorded in March and compounds a 0.8 percent contraction seen in February, the ONS data showed.

ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner identified softening fuel sales as a primary driver of the steep monthly retreat in overall retail figures.

The ONS said consumers reduced car trips and postponed refueling as pump prices climbed in April — a rebound that followed an unusual spike in March, when retailers widely noted that drivers had rushed to stock up on fuel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Stripping out automotive fuel, retail sales still contracted by 0.4 percent month-on-month in April. Clothing retailers and non-store operators also posted declines from March levels, with sellers pointing to unpredictable weather patterns and cooling demand as contributing factors.

Despite a modest uptick in consumer confidence in May — buoyed by signs of easing Middle East tensions — sentiment across Britain remains firmly in negative territory, warned Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium.

Dickinson cautioned that price pressures are poised to deepen, with more than four in five consumers bracing for further hikes in food costs.

She further noted that surging energy prices are squeezing retailers and their supply chains, flagging that government energy taxes and levies now represent 65 percent of business energy bills. Cutting those charges, Dickinson argued, would be the fastest lever available to ease inflationary pressure and restore consumer confidence — and that any delay risks compounding the next cost-of-living crisis for British households.

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