Furniture retail sales fell during January on last month as well as declining against an annual comparison, although against a three-month average, furniture store volumes performed well.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, furniture and lighting retail sales fell 17% to £1.25bn from £1.52bn in December. Compared to the previous year, sales were down 14% from £1.46bn.

Floorcovering retail sales increased month-on-month, up by 36% to £216.3m from £158.7m. Compared to the same time last year, sales fell by 24% from £285.2m.

Retail sales volumes (quantity bought) are estimated to have risen by 1.8% in January 2026, following a rise of 0.4% in December 2025. As for the value (amount spent), this was down 36% month-on-month to £37.8bn.

Sales volumes rose 1.8% over the month to January 2026. Other non-food stores had a good month as auctions of items such as artwork and antiques drove volumes. Mail order retailers, which are predominantly online, experienced a boost from retailers selling sports supplements, as well as continued strong sales volumes by online jewellers.

Sales volumes rose 0.1% over the three months to January 2026. Household goods stores also grew, which retailers attributed to good January seasonal sales for furniture, and there was a strong November 2025 period for hardware stores.

Within the monthly series, online sales values rose by 1.3% over the month to January 2026, and by 14.7% when comparing January 2026 with January 2025. This was the largest year-on-year rise since April 2021, as online sales fell on both the month and the year in January 2025.

Total spend (the sum of in-store and online sales) rose by 1.6% over the month. As a result, the proportion of sales made online fell from 28.3% in December 2025 to 28.2% in January 2026.

Commenting on the retail sales figures up to January, ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said: “Retail sales rose slightly in the latest three months, as sales continued to pick up in the new year following a weak November.

“Motor fuel sales increased a little across the period, while sales of art works, tech retailers and furniture stores also performed well. These were partially offset by falls in supermarket sales.”