Retail footfall during the period after Christmas declined across all destinations as tighter coronavirus restrictions came in across the UK.

Footfall fell by 23.2% in the week following Christmas compared with the previous week, according to the latest figures from Springboard.

Shopping centres saw the biggest decline in footfall, down 31.8% week on week, as restrictions tightened and more non-essential shops were closed.

High streets and retail parks also saw 21.9% and 16.8% declines respectively.

Footfall across the UK was 55.7% lower than the same week in 2019, with footfall in tier-four regions plummeting 77.2% year on year where non-essential shops were closed, compared with a decline of 33.9% in tier-three areas.

Footfall in Scotland and Northern Ireland dropped 58% and 74.4% respectively last week as both nations went into lockdown over the festive period.

Wales only saw a marginal decline in footfall of 8.9% compared with the week previously, where footfall across the country had plunged 59.7% as it entered its own lockdown.

City centres were the hardest hit as the government message to stay home spread, with footfall seeing an 81.8% decline.

London was the only place to see a rise in footfall last week, up 2.5%, which Springboard attributed to Londoners using their free time to explore the city while it is quieter.

The drop in footfall for smaller towns was still significant with an annual decline in footfall of 59.3% in coastal towns, 69.6% in historic towns and 63.2% in market towns.

Springboard insights director Diane Wehrle said: “The end of the festive trading period and tightened government restrictions unsurprisingly saw footfall in UK retail destinations drop significantly at the end of 2020.

“Moving into a new year, with the extension of tier four across virtually all of England and lockdowns in place in the devolved nations, retailers are unlikely to see any respite until restrictions are eased in the coming weeks or months.

“We know from our experience of retail reopening in June 2020 that until the widespread rollout of the vaccine, retail footfall will remain significantly below the pre-Covid level.”

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