U.K. Consumers Splashed the Cash as Lockdown Rules Eased
- Hospitality venues reopened in April, enjoying pent-up demand
- Surveys point to a boom as consumers splurge their savings
Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.
U.K. consumers opened their wallets in May as the economy continued to emerge from coronavirus restrictions, boosting sales of everything from clothing to vacations, surveys published Tuesday show.
The British Retail Consortium said the value of sales were 10% higher in May than in the same month of 2019, the strongest growth of the pandemic. A similar picture emerged in a separate report from Barclaycard, which found Britons returning to stores and restaurants and taking days out, despite heavy rainfall.
The figures add to evidence that the country is in the grip of a consumer boom as households start to splurge savings that were accumulated while the pandemic closed vast parts of the economy.