UK retail sales suffer surprising monthly decline in November - ONS

UK retail sales were weaker than expected in November, numbers on Friday showed, declining on-month and registering tamer on-year growth than forecast.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales volumes shrunk 0.1% in November from October on a seasonally-adjusted basis, shy of an FXStreet cited forecast for a 0.4% rise.

‘Non-store retailers’ volumes dipped as demand for gold slowed, while supermarkets fell for the fourth consecutive month,’ the ONS said.

In October, sales fell 0.9%, an outcome upwardly revised from an initially reported 1.1% decline.

On-year, retail sales increased 0.6% in November, matching October’s growth. However, a rise of 0.9% had been forecast.

The ONS noted that this year, Black Friday fell within its November period, unlike a year prior when it landed in its December reporting period.

‘Looking at our non-seasonally adjusted data (which do not adjust for Black Friday) sales volumes rose by 11.9% over the month to November 2025, compared with a rise of 4.4% in October 2025,’ the ONS said.

‘November 2025 therefore showed a fairly typical Black Friday effect.’

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