Retail sales surge in April after non-essential stores reopen
Retail sales volumes rose sharply in April, which reflected the effect of easing coronavirus restrictions and the reopening of all ‘non-essential’ retail.
Sales for the month of April 2021 increased 9.2%, with non-food stores providing the largest contribution to the monthly growth in sales volumes, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
This was the third consecutive month of recovery in retail sales, following growth in both March (5.1%) and February (1.8%).
The strongest monthly growth in April 2021 was driven by clothing stores, with sales up 69.4%, followed by other non-food stores (25.3%) and automotive fuel retailers (10.6%).
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