Retail sales volumes in Great Britain fell 0.5 percent in July, and six and a half years on they are still below where they stood in February 2020

Six and a half years after February 2020, the quantity of goods bought in Great Britain has still not got back to where it was. July 2026 volumes came in 0.1 percent below that pre pandemic month, on figures the Office for National Statistics published on 21 August. They were also, on the same figures, at their second highest level since April 2022. Both things are true, and the gap between them is the story of the last four years in one line.

The month, and the month before it

Sales volumes fell 0.5 percent in July against June. June itself has been revised down, to a rise of 0.7 percent from the 1.0 percent the ONS published last month, while May was nudged up to 1.3 percent from 1.2 percent. Against July 2025 volumes were up 1.6 percent.

The three month view goes the other way. Volumes in the three months to July were 1.1 percent above the three months to April and 3.0 percent above the same three months of 2025, and every main sector except automotive fuel rose over that period.

What retailers told the statisticians

The ONS reports the explanations retailers gave it, and they point in one direction. Clothing shops said promotions had run earlier than usual and pulled sales out of July and into June, and that hot weather kept people off the high street in July. Non store retailers said the same thing about promotions. Furniture sellers blamed a heatwave for weaker demand on some lines. Department stores reported problems with stock availability.

There is a check on the clothing claim inside the ONS itself. The bulletin points to the consumer price inflation release for July, which found that the share of discounted clothing items fell between June and July this year, where it had risen over the same two months a year earlier.

Non food stores, meaning department, clothing, household and other non food shops together, fell 1.3 percent over the month while rising 1.0 percent over the three months. Food stores rose in July, which retailers put down to a good month for supermarkets and to promotions, warm weather and the World Cup lifting alcoholic drinks and beverages.

Fuel is its own series and its own year. Retailers told the ONS that motorists stocked up in March because of the conflict in the Middle East, then made fewer journeys and put off filling up in April as prices rose. Fuel volumes rose again in July. They are still short of where they were in February 2026.

Online gave up more than the shops

Online spending values fell 3.9 percent over the month, having risen 2.5 percent in June, and that is a larger fall than the 0.6 percent drop in total spend across shops and websites combined. So the online share of retail sales fell from 29.2 percent in June to 28.3 percent in July.

Over three months the online picture is the reverse. Values were up 3.0 percent on the three months to April and 11.0 percent on the same three months last year, against a 6.5 percent rise for July alone measured against July 2025. Online is growing and it had a bad July.