 Sales have risen 8.2% since last June |
Wet summer weather failed to dampen the enthusiasm of shoppers, a new report from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has said. Total sales in June grew by more than 8% - well ahead of the rest of the UK.
Outdoor goods such as summer sandals did not sell well but that was offset by growth in other areas.
Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said retailers would be "comforted" that interest rate rises had not dented consumer sentiment.
Tourist season
The SRC-Royal Bank of Scotland retail sales monitor for June shows a like-for-like sales increase of 5.6% on sales in the previous June, compared with a rise of 2.4% for the rest of the UK.
The rise in total sales was even more marked - a year-on year increase of 8.2% in Scotland, compared to 5% south of the border.
The increases came on top of Scottish increases in May of 4.8% in like-for-like sales and 7.3% in total sales.
Retailers reported an even balance between food and non-food, with the start of the tourist season also boosting sales.
Jeremy Peat, group chief economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland, said the figures provided further encouragement for the Scottish economy.
"Despite the dreadful weather, both the food and non-food sectors reported impressive growth," he said.
"I expect both the UK and Scottish consumer sectors to remain strong into the second half of 2004, although recent and prospective interest rate rises may tend to temper the rate of expenditure growth."
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