UK Retail Sales Slip in September Amid Gloomy Consumer Sentiment

05:57 AM EDT, 10/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Retail sales in the UK declined more than expected in September, weighed down by "unreasonably warm" weather that affected clothing stores' online sales. Monthly retail sales decreased 0.4% in September, reversing the revised 0.7% growth in August, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday. The latest figure came in higher than market forecasts of a 0.1% downtick. On a yearly basis, Britain's retail sales rose 0.8%, compared with the revised 2.7% gain in the previous month and the expected 1% increase. "The fall in September was partly because of lower-than-usual clothing sales. Non-store retailers' sales volumes also fell following high sales volumes in August 2026. Online clothing retailers commented that the release of autumn and winter ranges in September 2026 did not perform well because of the unseasonably warm weather," according to the ONS. Monthly automotive fuel sales increased 2.2%. Excluding automotive fuel, retail sales were down 0.7% month over month. Meanwhile, online retail sales were 0.4% lower on a monthly basis in September, against a 3% increase in August, while the proportion of sales made online ticked down to 28.8% from 28.9%. In a separate release, market research company Growth from Knowledge said the UK's consumer confidence indicator dropped to -24 points in October from -13 points in September, worse than the consensus estimate of -14 points. The latest reading showed declines across all five measures, with the two largest falls being in expectations for the wider UK economy over the next 12 months and consumers' intention to make major purchases. "The last time we saw an 11-point drop was in July 2016, following the Brexit vote. In recent years, only the onset of the COVID pandemic saw a larger fall (down 25 points)," GfK consumer insights director Neil Bellamy said. "With no single major economic event driving the decline, and with weakness seen across the full spectrum of income, age and gender demographic groups, these are damaging findings given the UK government's priority of economic growth."