By Ian McConnell
SCOTTISH retail sales were last month down by 24.3 per cent on February 2020, marking a slight deceleration in the year-on-year pace of decline but signalling continuing grim times for the sector.
The drop, recorded amid protracted lockdown measures including continued closure of non-essential retail, is revealed in the latest industry figures published today. The prior February was the month before the UK moved to full lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
In January, Scottish retail sales value had been down by 27.9% on the same month of last year.
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Commenting on the latest Scottish Retail Consortium figures, the industry body’s director, David Lonsdale, said: “February wasn’t quite as dismal as January for Scottish retail sales, but the overall picture remains unremittingly bleak.”
He noted that, taking into account shop-price deflation, Scottish retail sales in February were down by 22% on the same month of last year in real terms.
Mr Lonsdale highlighted the fact that this year-on-year drop in retail sales volumes was the fourth-worst recorded in the monthly figures over the last year.
The sharp year-on-year decline in Scottish retail sales continued to be driven by the non-food category, which tends to reflect more discretionary elements of consumer spending.
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Scottish food sales value in February was up by 3.1% on the same month of last year. This was a slightly weaker rise than the 4.3% year-on-year increase recorded in January.
The year-on-year rate of decline in non-food sales value decelerated from 54.8% in January to 47.4% in February, the latest figures show.
Mr Lonsdale said: “With sales down by more than a fifth, it’s clear retail has suffered immensely from the lockdown restrictions imposed in response to Covid. However, this month’s figures suggest that there is suppressed demand in the economy.”
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