The Office for National Statistics has reported that retail sales volumes fell by 0.7% in October as shoppers held back on spending ahead of the budget.
Concerns over which taxes might increase ahead of the budget were cited as the main reason why consumers and businesses were reluctant to make spending decisions. The decline was larger than expected, as a drop of 0.3% had been forecasted by economists.
Despite the fall, the ONS said that wider trends showed that sales had been robust and sales were up 0.8% in the period from August to October, compared to the previous three months.
ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach, commented: “When we look at the wider trend, retail sales are increasing across the three-month and annual periods, although they remain below pre-pandemic levels.”
