Retail sales in the UK have fallen slightly over the past 12 months, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey.
A total of 100 companies were included in the survey, 39 of which were retailers.
The survey showed that the country’s retail sales volumes in the year to June dropped to -5% from -1% last month.
Sales volumes are also expected to remain largely unchanged over the year to July, falling marginally to -2%.
CBI said that sales declined to -19% this month from 0% in May, with this expected to further fall to 25% in July.
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The survey also found that wholesale volumes slowed sharply in June to +4%, from +30% in the previous month. This figure is expected to grow slightly next month to +9%.
Retailers’ orders with suppliers also declined to -8% this month, after growing +2% in May due to lower demand.
CBI lead economist Ben Jones said: “Retail volumes are struggling as high inflation eats away at consumers’ budgets.
“The squeeze on household incomes appears to have offset any boost to activity from the extended Platinum Jubilee bank holiday earlier this month.
“There are also clearer signs that a downturn in consumer spending is beginning to ripple out across the wider distribution sector, with wholesalers seeing a 14-month period of robust sales growth come to a grinding halt this month.
“As business sentiment weakens, government action is needed urgently to prevent a deeper and more prolonged downturn.
“Creating a permanent investment incentive and tackling skills shortages by introducing immediate flexibility to the apprenticeship levy would be strong first steps for boosting confidence.”
Earlier this month, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic IQ revealed that the total retail footfall in the UK for last month dropped by 12.5% on a year-on-three-years (Yo3Y) basis.
