Week 16, 2012: UK Retail Sales

Summary: Encouraging retail sales numbers were released today, showing that the volume of sales increased by 3.3% compared to March 2011. This was primarily driven by fuel sales.

What does the chart show? The chart shows the percentage change in the volume of retail sales in the UK compared to the same month in the previous year. The blue line represents all retail sales, while the red line excludes fuel sales.

Why is the chart interesting? Retail sales figures represent one of the main indicators of consumer spending, which in turn is an important aspect of overall economic activity, so a large increase is a positive sign for the UK economy. The 3.3% increase in volume of sales (and 5.7% increase in value of sales) in March is partly due to an increase in fuel sales, but is also affected by a large increase in internet sales and non-store retailing.