UK retail sales growth slows as inflationary pressures build
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - UK retail sales growth slowed significantly in September amid rising price pressures and uncertainty ahead of the Budget, with the milder autumn weather dampening shopping activity further, according to the British Retail Consortium on Tuesday.
The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed that total retail sales rose at a year-on-year rate of 2.3% in September, down from 3.1% in August and the slowest rate of growth since May.
Food sales were up 4.3% on last year, slowing from 4.7% previously, and largely a result of inflation than volume growth, the BRC said.
Meanwhile, non-food sales rose by just 0.7%, down from 1.8% the month before, though electrical sales were said to be strong as a result of the launch of the new iPhone and Apple Watch.
"Rising inflation and a potentially taxing Budget is weighing on the minds of many households planning their Christmas spending," said the BRC's chief executive Helen Dickinson.
"Retailers also face difficult decisions about investment and hiring over the Golden Quarter given uncertainty over business rates bills arriving in April."
Dickinson said that next year's new business rates surtax proposed by the government - payable by 4,000 large-format retail stores with a rateable value of over £500,000 - will put "thousands of jobs" in jeopardy.
"By exempting these shops when the Budget announcements are made, the Chancellor can reduce the inflationary pressures hammering businesses and households alike," she said.
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