Retail sales turned negative in August last year, declining by 0.2%. Since then, they have been declining every month, apart from January when we saw a 0.9% increase, which didn’t last. They turned negative again in February, declining by 0.3%. But, that was still before the coronavirus lockdown. Now, the data for March is showing a major decline in retail sales, as shown below.

UK March Retail Sales

• March retail sales -5.1% vs -5.0% expected
• February retail sales stood at -0.3%
• Retail sales YoY -5.8% vs -5.0% expected
• February retail sales YoY 0.0%

So, retail sales have declined by 5.1% in March, more than expected, and they will likely post another major decline for April. YoY sales fell by 5.8%, while core sales declined by 3.8% in March. The GBP didn’t mind much though, with GBP/USD actually ending up higher during the European session today.