UK Fashion Sales Surge Again: Over 6% Increase in September

Fashion trade soars in the UK. In the ninth month of the year, sales of textile, clothing, leather and footwear products in the United Kingdom posted a new record increase, the second so far this year. Specifically, the fashion retail sector closed the period with growth of 6.4% year-on-year, according to data published by the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).

September’s rise is in line with the rise the sector posted a month earlier, when fashion sales registered growth of 6.7% without correcting for seasonal and calendar effects, the highest so far this year and even in the last two years. The figure also responds to the upward trend that the sector has accumulated since early summer, with continued growth in June (3.7%), July (5.9%) and August.

Despite this good performance, the evolution of fashion retail sales throughout the year is marked by irregularity. Specifically, the sector began the year on a downward trend, with a 2.8% year-on-year drop in sales, which was reversed with a 0.5% rise in February, another 2.3% increase in March, and a 6.5% rise in April. Turnover fell again in May, by 0.8%, just before the start of the summer upturn.

UK retail sales have risen in line with both price and volume

It was sales of clothing that led growth in the sector overall, with a rise of 7.8% compared to September a year ago, although sales of leather goods and footwear also performed well, with a rise of 2.2%. This figure contrasts with the 1.7% drop recorded at the end of August.

The positive evolution of fashion sales is part of the good momentum being recorded by the country’s retail sector in general. Specifically, ONS data point to a 4% year-on-year rise in retail sales, excluding fuel turnover, and up to a further 3.1% including fuel. Both figures are up by as much as one point from the previous month’s rise, when sales increased by 3% and 2%, respectively.

The increase also went hand in hand, however, with a rise in the number of products sold. At the end of September, fashion retail sales by volume were up 5.4% year-on-year. However, there was a difference in the evolution by type of establishment: while sales in large stores grew by 7.6% year-on-year, those in small stores fell by 5.6%.