UK Retail Sales Below Forecasts in February in World Economy News 11/03/2026 UK retail sales rose 0.7% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis in February 2026, falling short of market expectations for a 2.4% gain as wet weather dampened shopping activity. The February figure also slowed sharply from a 2.3% rise in January, marking the weakest growth in nine months. Food sales increased 2.9% in February, below the 12-month average of 3.8%, while non-food sales fell 0.4%, compared with an average 1% growth over the past year. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “February’s grey, wet weather hit retail sales hard. Spending was weak across most categories, online and in-store, as households pulled back after Christmas and January’s rebound.” She added that the conflict in the Middle East is likely to further weigh on consumer sentiment. However, Valentine’s Day provided a small bright spot, with jewellery, watches, and perfume performing better as consumers still treated loved ones. Source: Trading Economics 2026-03-11 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share