Furniture retail sales increased slightly during May on last month while also rising against an annual comparison.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, furniture and lighting retail sales rose 0.5% to £1.176bn from £1.170bn in April. Compared to the previous year, sales were up 3.1% from £1.14bn.

Floorcovering retail sales decreased month-on-month, down by 3.1% to £251.1m from £259.3m. Compared to the same time last year, sales rose by 17.7% from £213.2m.

Retail sales volumes (quantity bought) are estimated to have fallen by 2.7% in May 2025, following a rise of 1.3% in April 2025. As for the value (amount spent), this was down 0.5% month-on-month to £39.6bn.

Non-food stores sales volumes – the total of department, clothing, household and other non-food stores – fell by 1.4% over the month, mainly because of falls in clothing and household goods stores such as hardware, paints and glass retailers. Retailer comments mentioned reduced footfall and consumers having completed home projects earlier than usual this year because of good weather, leading to lower sales in May.

The amount spent online, known as “online spending values”, fell by 1.0% over the month to May 2025 and by 2.5% when comparing May 2025 with May 2024. More broadly, sales values rose by 3.6% when comparing the three months to May 2025 with the three months to February 2025.

Total spend – the sum of in-store and online sales – fell by 2.4% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online rose from 26.8% in April 2025 to 27.2% in May 2025.

Commenting on the retail sales figures for May, ONS Senior Statistician Hannah Finselbach said: “Retail sales fell sharply in May with their largest monthly fall since the end of 2023.

“This was mainly due to a dismal month for food retailers, especially supermarkets, following strong sales in April. Feedback suggested reduced purchases for alcohol and tobacco with customers choosing to make cutbacks.

“The falls were consistent across all sectors with clothing and household goods stores reporting slow trading due to reduced footfall. There was also decreased demand for DIY items as consumers took advantage of the good weather over the previous few months.

“Looking at the wider picture, retail sales are still up across the latest three-months as a whole.”