Furniture retail sales decreased during July on last month but were slightly up against an annual comparison.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, furniture and lighting retail sales fell 21% to £1.09bn from £1.38bn in June. Compared to the previous year, sales were up 3.8% from £1.05bn.
Floorcovering retail sales decreased month-on-month, down by 15.4% to £218.7m from £258.6m. Compared to the same time last year, sales fell by 1.7% from £222.5m.
Sales volumes (quantity bought) rose by 0.6% over the month during July 2025, following a 0.3% rise in June. Sales volumes rose by 1.1% over the year to July 2025. As for the value (amount spent), this was down 18.2% month-on-month to £40.2bn.
Non-food stores sales volumes – the total of department, clothing, household, and other non-food stores – rose by 0.6% over the month. This was mainly because of clothing stores rising by 2.5% over the month and 5.5% over the year. This was the largest annual rise since January 2023, putting sales volumes at their highest since June 2023. Retailer comments suggested the rise was because of new products being launched, alongside the continued good weather.
The amount spent online, known as “online spending values”, rose by 2.0% over the month to July 2025 and by 3.7% when comparing July 2025 with July 2024. Sales values rose by 2.2% when comparing the three months to July 2025 with the three months to April 2025.
Total spend – the sum of in-store and online sales – rose by 1.0% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online rose from 27.5% in June 2025 to 27.8% in July 2025.
Commenting on the retail sales figures for the three months to July, incoming ONS Director General of Economic Statistics James Benford said: “Overall, retail sales were a little lower over the latest three months as a whole compared to the previous three.
“Supermarkets, sports shops and household goods stores had a strong start to the year, but spending there has fallen since March. That weakness was partially offset by the strong showing from online and clothing and footwear stores.”
