Flooring sales recovered after July’s monthly drop and were almost double that of pre-pandemic levels.
The value of retail sales in England, Scotland and Wales was £214.77m in August, according to ONS data.
This was 6.3% higher than July 2022.
It was 20.58% higher than August 2021 and 83.5% higher than August 2020.
Sales were 90.55% higher than August 2019, and it was the 74th best month of 440 months since comparable records began in January 1986.
The figures are non-seasonally adjusted, do not include the effect of inflation and are subject to revision by the ONS.