Fashion downturn drags UK retail sales in April

It was a "disappointing April" for the retail sector, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. The figures were driven both by overall low consumer confidence, with fears that the Middle East conflict would drive up living costs, leading shoppers to rein it in, and a shift in the dates for Easter, which resulted in an artificially higher March, but lower April.

Over March and April - to cancel out any distortion from this year’s earlier Easter - total retail sales increased by 1.5% year-on-year, although this still sets it below the 12-month average growth of 1.8%.

On its own, April retail sales decreased by 3% year-on-year, against a growth of 7% in the same period in 2025.

Non-food sales decreased by 3.3% year on year in April, against a growth of 6.1% in April 2025, again putting it below the 12-month average growth of 0.3%.

Breaking this down further, fashion and footwear saw a decline in their contribution to the overall sales growth in April, while beauty and health saw a small uptick. (The BRC is not able to provide any more specific figures on each of the categories.)

British Retail Consortium (BRC)

In-store non-food sales decreased by 4% year-on-year in April, against a growth of 5.6% in April 2025, which still fell below the 12-month average growth of 0.4%.

Online, non-food sales also decreased, by 2.3% year on year in April, against a growth of 7% in April 2025.

The BRC's online growth rankings, which show how the top ten retail categories performed relative to one another in April, however, showed a bit of a bright spot - with the health and beauty category rising to first place, up from fifth in March. Clothing also climbed, moving from ninth spot in March to fifth in April. Other categories, including footwear, however, slipped down the rankings.

Linda Ellett, UK Head of Consumer, Retail & Leisure, KPMG, said: "It was a disappointing April for the retail sector, even factoring in an earlier Easter shifting some spending into March. Bar marginal growth for beauty, health and jewellery, retail sales fell across all other categories.

"Consumer confidence has been further dampened by rising prices due to the Iran conflict, with consumers cautious about potential ongoing effects. As a result, the retail sector is facing a challenging start to spring/summer, but there is hope that holiday demand and the World Cup still manage to unlock spending in the weeks and months ahead."

Last week the BRC had noted that total footfall across the UK was down 3.9% on the same period last year, again citing low consumer confidence due to the Middle East conflict.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Global events might be out of government’s hands, but costs imposed at home are not. Ministers must act now to curb the impact on consumers from soaring costs." She outlined that these included cutting non-commodity energy charges and scrapping the triple tax on packaging.

Last week the BRC sent a warning that retailers are absorbing significant additional costs from the Middle East conflict, on top of additional pressures that are directly influenced by the government and regulators.