This is the highest number since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in the sector in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to close their stores during the lockdown.
Data compiled by the Centre for Retail Research shows that a total of 169,395 retail jobs have been lost in calendar year 2024 to date - 49,990 more than in 2023, an increase of 41.9%.
The centre said its latest analysis showed that the number of jobs lost had soared amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, are as a result of business failures, with 38 major retailers having been declared insolvent, including other well-known names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, The Body Shop and Carpetright.
The centre says the rest are the result of 'rationalisation' as part of cost-cutting programmes by large retailers or small independent retailers who decide to close their stores for good.
"The relatively low figures for 2023 now look like an anomaly, a pause for breath by many retailers after the store closures, if you will. The problems associated with changed customer shopping habits, inflation, rising energy costs, rents and business rates continue and are forcing many retailers to cut back further in 2024," said Professor Joshua Bamfield, Director of the Centre for Retail Research.
Independent retailers, which are typically small businesses with between 1and 5 stores, shed a total of 58,616 jobs during the year.
Experts said 2025 is expected to be another tough year for high street firms, with an expected increase in National Insurance contributions as well as a reduction in Business Rates Discounts - the property tax charge that affects high street firms.
The current 75% business rates discount, due to end on 31 March 2025, will be replaced with a less generous 40% discount, with the maximum remaining at £110,000.
"The reduction in business rates relief from 1 April will disproportionately affect independent retailers, whose bills will rise by an average of 140%, resulting in an extra £5,024 for the average store," said Alex Probin, president of property tax at consultancy Altus Group,
Altus forecasts the change will save the Treasury money but cost the retail sector an additional £688m.
The British Retail Consortium also predicts that increasing employers' National Insurance contributions and lowering the threshold at which firms start paying will create a £2.3bn bill for the sector.
Professor Bamfield predicts that 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector in 2025.
"As both the cost of running shops and the household costs of each consumer increase, it is highly likely that in 2020 retail job losses will exceed the height of the pandemic," he added. | BGNES
