UK consumer spending falls for 3rd consecutive month

“Consumer spend fell for the third month in a row in July, the first time overall spending had fallen for three consecutive months since February 2013. The figure provides further evidence that rising prices and stagnant wage growth are squeezing consumers’ pockets,” commented Kevin Jenkins, UK & Ireland managing director at Visa.

Clothing and footwear spending fell by 5.2 per cent year-on-year during the month. One reason for this is imported goods becoming more expensive as prices are being driven higher by last year’s collapse in the value of the pound post-Brexit.

Another reason is that while inflation is currently at 2.6 per cent, wages are growing by just 2 per cent. This leads to 0.6 per cent drop in consumers’ spending/savings.

Gayle Haddock, Carry me home (Children’s Clothes), London, said, “July isn’t usually a hectic month for us, and this year was no exception. During the summer holidays many parents have to reduce their working hours and increase their childcare costs, so there’s less time and money to make non-essential purchases. We’ve worked to counter this by releasing discount codes on social media.”

IHS Markit, the data company that compiled the figures for Visa, is not optimistic about a recovery in consumer spending. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India