US retail sales since 1992: any month, records and yearly totals
Retail sales measure what Americans spend at stores, car dealers, gas stations, online retailers, restaurants and bars each month, and they are one of the most closely watched signs of consumer demand. Look up any month since January 1992, compare any two months, and see the records and the total for every year, with and without motor vehicles and parts. The latest figure is $745.0 billion for September 2026.
Updated 4 November 2026. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Prices: US inflation tracker. Everyday items: US average prices since 1980.
In September 2026, US retail and food services sales were $745.0 billion, seasonally adjusted; excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales were $605.2 billion. Total sales were up 0.8% on August 2026. Compared with September 2025, they were up 6.3%. That is the highest monthly total on record since January 1992.
Key figures
- US retail and food services sales were $745.0 billion in September 2026, up 0.8% on August 2026. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales were $605.2 billion, up 0.9%. #
- Twelve months earlier, in September 2025, retail sales were $700.9 billion, so they are up 6.3% on a year earlier. #
- The highest monthly total on record was $745.0 billion in September 2026; the lowest was $158.6 billion in March 1992. #
- The biggest one-month rise was in May 2020 (up 19.4%); the biggest fall was in April 2020 (down 14.2%). #
- Sales excluding motor vehicles and parts, which strip out swings in car buying, peaked at $605.2 billion in September 2026. #
- In February 2020, before the pandemic, retail sales were $515.8 billion; they fell to $402.2 billion in April 2020 and are now up 44.4% on the pre-pandemic level. #
- The biggest full year for US retail sales was 2025, with $8350.6 billion in total. #
Retail sales for the last 24 months
Total sales with the change on the month before and on a year earlier, and sales excluding motor vehicles and parts with their monthly change. Each row has its own link, for example #month-2026-09.
| Month | Retail sales | Monthly change | Change on a year earlier | Excluding autos | Monthly change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | $745.0 billion | +0.8% | +6.3% | $605.2 billion | +0.9% |
| August 2026 | $739.3 billion | +1.3% | +5.6% | $599.8 billion | +1.4% |
| July 2026 | $729.9 billion | −0.4% | +4.5% | $591.3 billion | −0.1% |
| June 2026 | $732.9 billion | +0.2% | +5.9% | $591.9 billion | −0.3% |
| May 2026 | $731.4 billion | +1.0% | +6.7% | $593.5 billion | +1.0% |
| April 2026 | $723.9 billion | +0.6% | +4.1% | $587.8 billion | +0.9% |
| March 2026 | $719.7 billion | +1.7% | +3.6% | $582.4 billion | +1.9% |
| February 2026 | $708.0 billion | +0.9% | +3.5% | $571.4 billion | +0.8% |
| January 2026 | $701.9 billion | −0.6% | +2.2% | $567.0 billion | −0.6% |
| December 2025 | $706.3 billion | +0.1% | +2.1% | $570.5 billion | +0.2% |
| November 2025 | $705.5 billion | +0.7% | +2.9% | $569.2 billion | +0.5% |
| October 2025 | $700.8 billion | ±0.0% | +2.8% | $566.3 billion | +0.3% |
| September 2025 | $700.9 billion | +0.1% | +3.7% | $564.6 billion | +0.1% |
| August 2025 | $700.4 billion | +0.3% | +4.4% | $564.0 billion | +0.3% |
| July 2025 | $698.3 billion | +0.9% | +3.7% | $562.2 billion | +0.6% |
| June 2025 | $691.9 billion | +0.9% | +3.9% | $559.0 billion | +1.0% |
| May 2025 | $685.5 billion | −1.4% | +2.7% | $553.7 billion | −0.6% |
| April 2025 | $695.5 billion | +0.1% | +4.6% | $556.8 billion | +0.2% |
| March 2025 | $694.8 billion | +1.6% | +4.6% | $555.5 billion | +0.5% |
| February 2025 | $683.8 billion | −0.5% | +2.9% | $552.5 billion | ±0.0% |
| January 2025 | $687.1 billion | −0.7% | +4.0% | $552.4 billion | −0.4% |
| December 2024 | $691.8 billion | +0.9% | +3.7% | $554.4 billion | +1.0% |
| November 2024 | $685.7 billion | +0.6% | +2.9% | $549.0 billion | +0.1% |
| October 2024 | $681.8 billion | +0.9% | +2.1% | $548.7 billion | +0.5% |
Total US retail sales in every year since 1992
Sums of the monthly seasonally adjusted figures for each calendar year, newest first; the latest year runs to September 2026, with the change on the year before and the year's highest and lowest month. Each row has its own link, for example #year-2025.
| Year | Retail sales | Change on the year before | Excluding autos | Highest month | Lowest month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (January to September) | $6532.0 billion | $5290.4 billion | $745.0 billion | $701.9 billion | |
| 2025 | $8350.6 billion | +3.5% | $6726.7 billion | $706.3 billion | $683.8 billion |
| 2024 | $8067.8 billion | +1.1% | $6491.0 billion | $691.8 billion | $660.6 billion |
| 2023 | $7983.5 billion | +1.4% | $6370.8 billion | $674.6 billion | $655.1 billion |
| 2022 | $7873.9 billion | +9.1% | $6297.4 billion | $668.0 billion | $634.1 billion |
| 2021 | $7219.6 billion | +18.1% | $5708.6 billion | $626.0 billion | $545.4 billion |
| 2020 | $6113.9 billion | +0.8% | $4884.7 billion | $541.2 billion | $402.2 billion |
| 2019 | $6067.3 billion | +3.2% | $4823.9 billion | $516.3 billion | $490.8 billion |
| 2018 | $5881.6 billion | +4.4% | $4682.2 billion | $499.5 billion | $481.2 billion |
| 2017 | $5632.9 billion | +4.6% | $4462.5 billion | $483.6 billion | $462.8 billion |
| 2016 | $5384.5 billion | +2.7% | $4253.9 billion | $459.6 billion | $439.3 billion |
| 2015 | $5244.3 billion | +2.6% | $4158.3 billion | $442.2 billion | $427.1 billion |
| 2014 | $5113.4 billion | +4.2% | $4105.2 billion | $433.1 billion | $411.6 billion |
| 2013 | $4907.4 billion | +3.9% | $3962.5 billion | $414.8 billion | $404.2 billion |
| 2012 | $4725.1 billion | +4.9% | $3857.2 billion | $401.1 billion | $387.5 billion |
| 2011 | $4504.5 billion | +7.4% | $3709.0 billion | $384.0 billion | $364.4 billion |
| 2010 | $4195.5 billion | +5.4% | $3470.6 billion | $362.0 billion | $339.1 billion |
| 2009 | $3979.3 billion | −7.3% | $3324.2 billion | $339.6 billion | $322.6 billion |
| 2008 | $4293.3 billion | −1.3% | $3529.6 billion | $368.9 billion | $324.8 billion |
| 2007 | $4348.9 billion | +3.3% | $3457.5 billion | $370.8 billion | $355.8 billion |
| 2006 | $4210.8 billion | +5.4% | $3326.4 billion | $356.4 billion | $347.0 billion |
| 2005 | $3994.4 billion | +6.6% | $3126.2 billion | $339.9 billion | $321.3 billion |
| 2004 | $3746.9 billion | +6.2% | $2900.9 billion | $324.7 billion | $302.0 billion |
| 2003 | $3526.9 billion | +4.4% | $2703.6 billion | $300.7 billion | $284.7 billion |
| 2002 | $3378.7 billion | +2.3% | $2577.3 billion | $286.6 billion | $277.1 billion |
| 2001 | $3302.4 billion | +3.0% | $2502.3 billion | $288.6 billion | $268.7 billion |
| 2000 | $3204.7 billion | +6.5% | $2426.3 billion | $270.5 billion | $261.5 billion |
| 1999 | $3009.0 billion | +8.2% | $2260.8 billion | $263.3 billion | $240.3 billion |
| 1998 | $2780.8 billion | +4.6% | $2106.5 billion | $240.1 billion | $225.7 billion |
| 1997 | $2658.7 billion | +5.1% | $2018.0 billion | $225.2 billion | $217.8 billion |
| 1996 | $2529.5 billion | +5.9% | $1917.0 billion | $215.7 billion | $203.8 billion |
| 1995 | $2387.6 billion | +5.5% | $1819.8 billion | $204.0 billion | $193.1 billion |
| 1994 | $2264.0 billion | +8.3% | $1735.3 billion | $194.9 billion | $179.6 billion |
| 1993 | $2090.2 billion | +7.3% | $1628.9 billion | $181.1 billion | $167.7 billion |
| 1992 | $1948.1 billion | $1541.6 billion | $167.7 billion | $158.6 billion |
Examples
April 2020
In April 2020, US retail and food services sales were $402.2 billion, seasonally adjusted; excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales were $335.7 billion. Total sales were down 14.2% on March 2020. Compared with April 2019, they were down 19.5%. Sales were higher than this in 164 of the 417 months on record since January 1992. The latest figure, for September 2026, is $745.0 billion.
February 2020 to September 2026
From February 2020 to September 2026, monthly US retail sales went from $515.8 billion to $745.0 billion (up 44.4%). Excluding motor vehicles and parts they went from $411.3 billion to $605.2 billion (up 47.1%). Over those 80 months sales totalled $51625.8 billion, peaking at $745.0 billion in September 2026 with a low of $402.2 billion in April 2020.
Download the data
- US retail sales for every month since January 1992 (CSV): 417 rows with total retail and food services sales and sales excluding motor vehicles and parts in millions of dollars, and the monthly and yearly change in percent.
- Yearly totals since 1992 (CSV): 35 rows with the yearly total, the total excluding motor vehicles and parts and the year's highest and lowest month.
Free to reuse with credit to ClarionBrief and the U.S. Census Bureau and a link to this page, under CC BY 4.0.
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How the calculator works
Figures are advance and revised estimates of monthly sales for retail and food services, total and excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers, in millions of dollars, seasonally adjusted and not adjusted for inflation, from the Census Bureau's Monthly Retail Trade Survey, as published on FRED (RSAFS and RSFSXMV) from January 1992, when the current NAICS-based series begins. Monthly changes are percent changes on the month before; yearly figures are sums of the twelve monthly figures, and the change on the year before is shown for full years only. Because the figures are not adjusted for inflation, part of the growth over time reflects higher prices. The figures use today's revised data, so they can differ from the first estimate reported in the news. This page is updated daily.