Retail sales bounced back in January 2026, with volumes rising 1.8%, the biggest monthly jump since May 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
After a modest 0.4% increase in December 2025 and a slight dip in November, January’s numbers marked a lively start to the year.
Looking at the three-month picture, sales edged up 0.1% compared with the previous quarter and were 2.6% higher than the same period a year earlier. Year-on-year, January saw a 4.5% boost in sales volumes, while levels remained steady compared with February 2020.
Much of the growth came from automotive fuel sales, which recovered after October 2025’s fall.
Non-food stores also enjoyed a lift, including commercial art galleries, computer and telecoms retailers, and household goods stores, fuelled by seasonal furniture sales and a strong November for hardware stores.
Some of these gains were balanced by small drops in supermarkets and department stores.
January was a particularly good month for other non-food outlets, with auctions of artwork and antiques seeing higher volumes. Mail order and online retailers continued to thrive, especially with sports supplements and jewellery, where demand reportedly hit record highs.
Online shopping continued to shine: spending rose 1.3% compared with December 2025 and surged 14.7% year-on-year, the strongest annual growth since April 2021.
Over the past three months, online spending climbed 1.8% versus the previous quarter and 10.8% compared with a year ago.
Overall retail spending increased 1.6% in January, though the share of online sales dipped slightly from 28.3% to 28.2%.
Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said this rebound “adds to signs that consumer activity is stabilising after a period of uncertainty, with households gradually returning to spending in key categories,” putting the early‑year bounce in a positive context for the wider economy.
The Retail Sales Index survey, which forms the basis of these figures, had a 57.2% response rate in January, slightly below the 12‑month average, covering 91.5% of total turnover in the sample.