Visits to shopping centres and high streets dip below pre-pandemic levels

Shoppers in Princes Street, Edinburgh. Footfall in Scotland was 9.2% higher than it was in 2021, while footfall in London was 27.4% higher. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Visits to high streets and shopping centres dipped to below pre-pandemic levels last month, with the north of England – plus Scotland and Northern Ireland – trailing behind the south in terms of the overall recovery from Covid-fuelled gloom.

Footfall decreased by 14% in July compared with 2019, reversing gains made in April, as retailers struggled to entice shoppers amid a heatwave in the third week of the month and surging inflation.