Boxing Day footfall in central London returns to pre-pandemic levels

Influx of high streets shoppers should cheer retailers with numbers up by nearly 9% on 2022

Bargain hunters flocked to Britain’s high streets in greater numbers this Boxing Day than last, with crowds of shoppers in central London returning to pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

Full-day footfall was up by 4% compared with 26 December 2022 on a national level, according to figures from the retail analysts MRI Software, improving on initial estimates at midday of a 1.4% increase. On high streets the picture was even better, with a full-day rise of 8.8% year on year.