With almost 3 million cases of coronavirus worldwide and numerous countries enforcing lockdowns, global retail spend is anticipated to fall by US$549.7bn in 2020, according to a new forecast.

The decline of 3.0% in 2020 compares to a previously expected rise of 5.0% prior to Covid-19 – a rise of US$927.7bn, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData. 

“North America and Europe are set to experience the steepest drops in retail spend forecast to decrease 4.8% and 4.4% respectively,” explains Sofie Willmott, lead analyst at GlobalData. 

“And while APAC is expected to only see a relatively minor decline of 1.3%, which looks good relative to other regions, pre-Covid 19 we had forecast the region’s growth to be 7.2%.”

GlobalData has already forecast that measures introduced to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the community is hitting non-food retailers the hardest, particularly clothing specialists. It calculates that in the UK alone, clothing and footwear spend is now forecast at GBP39.7bn (US$49.6bn) for 2020 – a decline of 26.1% on 2019. 

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