Father’s Day sales growth will be sluggish this year as the annual celebration rakes in less than half of the revenue raised for Mother’s Day.

Sales are set to edge up 0.6% year-on-year with increased spend driven by inflation, which last month hit a four-year high of 2.9%.

According to retail analyst firm GlobalData, 24.5% of shoppers said Father’s Day was less important than Mother’s Day.

This reluctance to spend is reflected in the Mother’s Day retail sales this year of £1.4bn dwarfing the forecast figure for Father’s Day of £700m.

Consumer spend down

GlobalData retail analyst Eleanor Parr said: “As consumers’ disposable incomes become squeezed due to real wage declines, consumers will be more reluctant to allocate discretionary spend on occasions which are considered less important, therefore driving a volume decline in the market.

“Father’s Day spending will become a victim of this trend, with the slight increase in spend driven prominently by increased prices rather than shoppers’ willingness to upgrade their Father’s Day gift purchases this year.”

Food purchases are set to be the biggest beneficiary of cost inflation, with spend this Father’s Day expected to grow 1.4%.

Spend on gifting and cards and wrapping are set to rise a nominal 0.3% and 0.2% respectively, although value players such as Aldi, B&M and Poundland are set to enjoy a sales boost as a result of Father’s Day.