Against the backdrop of the shadow of the trade war, consumer spending in the UK is unexpectedly rising. Retail data is impressive.

Data shows that British shoppers have overcome concerns about global trade wars and significantly increased their spending in April, driven by Easter and sunny weather pushing sales in food, gardening equipment, and clothing. The overall retail sales year-on-year in April in the UK recorded 7.0% according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). This is the largest monthly year-on-year increase since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the sunniest April on record in the UK since 1910, shoppers updated their wardrobes after a period of weak sales, leading to a rebound in clothing sales. Another set of data released by Barclays Bank shows a similar rebound in consumer spending last month: the bank's measure of consumer card transactions increased by 4.5% compared to April 2024, the largest annual increase since June 2023. Barclays Bank stated that this is also the first time in over two years that spending growth has exceeded the inflation rate.