Retail sales volume in the U.K. declined 0.2% month over month in August, in line with expectations, following an upwardly revised 0.4% growth rate in the prior month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
The fall in August was primarily driven by a 3.2% drop in non-store retailing, after July's print was boosted by promotional offers, the ONS noted.
Food stores and non-food stores both added 0.2 percentage point each. Within the non-food stores sector, household goods stores registered a 2.0% growth, rebounding from a drop of 5.1% in July.
In the three months to August, retail sales advanced 0.6%, compared with the previous three-month period amid a 4.8% growth in non-store retailing and a decline in food stores for the third straight month.
On an annual basis, retail sales volume growth slowed to 2.7% in August, compared with July's upwardly revised growth rate of 3.4% as department stores and household goods stores registered declines.
Online sales, which constituted 19.7% of total retailing in August compared with 19.9% in July, rose 11.6% on an annual basis.
In its August distributive trades survey, the Confederation of British Industry said the U.K. retailers expected the sharpest decline in business activity since the financial crisis to hit in the coming months amid fears of a no-deal Brexit.
