UK Retail Sales Rose 1.9 Percent Year on Year in June While In-Store Non-Food Sales Fell

UK retail sales rose 1.9 percent year on year in June 2026, according to data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG reported by The Independent. Online sales of non-food products increased 5.1 percent over the same period, while in-store non-food sales declined 1.1 percent. The proportion of retail sales conducted online reached its highest level of 2026.

The 12-month average growth rate for in-store non-food sales stood at 0.1 percent as of June. Consumer card spending grew 1.9 percent year on year in June, with non-essential spending up 1. Barclays data cited in the report linked the gains to stabilizing consumer confidence, warm weather and the start of the World Cup.

Pub transactions reached five times the 2026 daily average on Saturday June 27, when England played Panama, marking a 389.9 percent increase from the average and a 161.7 percent rise from the prior year. Combined pub payments on Sunday July 5 and Monday July 6 tripled the daily average and rose 201.5 percent year on year.

Payments on Tuesday June 23, following England’s draw with Ghana, increased 244.3 percent year on year.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said retail sales maintained momentum despite June’s heatwave and that the proportion of sales online was the highest of 2026. Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer, retail and leisure markets at KPMG, said record-breaking temperatures continued from May into June, with retail sales again rising.

Jack Meaning, chief UK economist at Barclays, said additional spending around the World Cup will be a welcome cushion for the hospitality sector but that the economy has slowed into the middle of the year.