The UK recorded a 5.4% jump in retail sales volumes last month, according to the Office for National Statistics press release. The sales jump was helped by easing of coronavirus restrictions which fueled consumer spending.
March retail sales were 1.6% higher than February 2020 before the coronavirus.
Non-food stores had the largest contribution to the sales growth, with clothing and other non-food stores gaining 17.5% and 13.4% respectively.
Food stores had a modest growth of 2.5% in March, led by specialty food stores.
Automotive fuel retail registered a growth of 11.1% on easing of travel restrictions
Retail stores for the quarter ending March were still down 5.8% compared to the previous three months.
Online spending was slightly down to 34.7% in March, from 36.2% in February this year, but up from 23.1% recorded in March 2020.
UK stocks are currently declining as the pound gains. FTSE 100 is down 0.55%, GBPUSD is up 0.25%.
