Retail sales in Great Britain fall despite heatwave increasing food and drink demand

<p>Volume of goods sold in stores and online dropped 0.5% in July, ONS says</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/aug/21/retail-sales-economy-consumer-ons-heatwave-ftse-stock-market-growth-oil-live-updates">Business live – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>Retail sales across Great Britain weakened last month despite the men’s football World Cup and record temperatures boosting the demand for food and drink.</p><p>The Office for National Statistics said the volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 0.5% in July. That is down from 0.7% rise in June – revised down from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/24/heatwave-and-online-shopping-drive-up-retail-sales-in-great-britain">initial estimates of 1%</a> – and a 1.3% rise in May.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/21/retail-sales-in-great-britain-fall-despite-heatwave-increasing-food-and-drink-demand">Continue reading...</a>