UK retail footfall falls 6% in September while gas prices climb
ONS real-time indicators show UK retail footfall down 6% in September, potential redundancies up and gas prices rising, with mixed signals for firms.
The Office for National Statistics refreshed its twelve real-time indicators on Thursday, and its latest bulletin shows UK retail footfall fell 6% in September compared with August as consumer activity weakened.
Footfall was also 1% lower than in September 2025, based on BT Active Intelligence estimates that count visitors to retail areas and exclude people who live or work there.
It dropped in all 12 UK countries and English regions on the month, with the largest falls in the devolved nations.
Scotland and Northern Ireland both fell by 13%, while Wales was down 12%.
The ONS describes the indicators as official statistics in development and says it advises “caution when using the data” because sources may change at short notice.
Automotive fuel demand also eased slightly in September, while fuel prices and the seasonally adjusted Direct Debit failure rate rose compared with August.
Revolut debit card spending bucked the trend, increasing on both the month and the year.
A net 3% of firms reported higher turnover than in the previous month, a measure drawn from HM Revenue and Customs VAT returns.
Insolvency Service HR1 forms covering Great Britain showed potential redundancies increased compared with both August and September 2025.
Employers file an HR1 form when they propose to dismiss 20 or more employees at one establishment within 90 days.
The forms record intentions rather than completed job losses, and they miss smaller employers that fall below the 20-employee threshold.
New online job adverts were higher than a year earlier, rising in 10 of the 12 regions and countries in September compared with September 2025.
The South East recorded the biggest increase at 25%, followed by the East Midlands at 16%, while Scotland and London were both down 1%.
Some job advert data for the period have been partly imputed because accurate information from a major source could not be obtained.
Wholesale gas prices rose in September compared with August, while electricity prices fell slightly, though both were higher than in September 2025.
More recent data show gas pressure continuing: in the week ending 18 October the System Average Price rose 12% on the previous week, from 6.413p to 7.189p per kilowatt hour.
The System Price of electricity rose 23% in the seven days to 18 October compared with the previous seven days, from 13.111p to 16.090p per kilowatt hour.
Payments from farms to fuel suppliers have been between 20% and 37% higher than in the same months of 2025 since April.
The number of those payments is broadly unchanged, which the ONS says suggests larger payments per transaction, likely reflecting higher fuel prices.
New vehicle registrations rose 4% on August and 10% on September 2025, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said.
Housing readings were mixed: new listings for sales and rentals rose on August, while average time on market was 3% longer than a year earlier.
Energy Performance Certificates lodged for new dwellings fell 4% over the same period.
UK flights and ship visits to selected ports both edged up compared with September 2025.
The ONS now lists twelve indicators, including Xero data on small-business sales and jobs, which is updated quarterly.
Its dashboard is refreshed weekly, and the ONS notes that bad weather and public or school holidays can distort consumer, shipping and flight readings.
