According to the report from Office for National Statistics, in the three months to June 2019, the amount spent and the quantity bought both increased by 0.7% respectively when compared with the previous three months, with growth across all sectors except food stores and department stores. This has slowed from the stronger growth of 1.5% in the amount spent and 1.6% in the quantity bought in the three months to May 2019.

The quantity bought in June 2019 increased by 1.0% when compared with May 2019; non-food stores provided the largest contribution to this growth. Economists had expected a 0.3% decrease. The monthly picture also showed strong growth of 1.3% for the amount spent.

The year-on-year growth rate shows that the quantity bought in June 2019 increased by 3.8%, with growth across all sectors except department stores, while May 2019 was at 2.2% for the year-on-year growth rate. Economists had expected a 2.6% increase in June.

Online sales as a proportion of all retailing fell to 18.9% in June 2019, from the 19.3% reported in May 2019.