Key statistics
| Profit contribution of charity retail to parent charities | £331m in 2018/19 |
| Average transaction value in a charity shop | £7.08, from QMA 1 Q4 Oct-Dec 2020 (sample 39 charities) £5.42, from QMA Q4 Oct-Dec 2019 (pre-pandemic, sample 58 charities) |
| Amount of textiles kept from being disposed of each year | 339,000 tonnes in 2018/19 2 |
| Number of people employed | More than 25,500 FTE employees 3 |
| Number of volunteers | More than 233,000 volunteers 4 |
| Number of charity shops | 11,209 5 |
| Proportion of income from new goods sales | 6.8% in Apr 2019/Feb 2020 (pre-pandemic) 6 |
| Sample info on average price per item | UK, median prices: |
| Womenswear: £3.95; Examples from the womenswear category: blouses, tops and knitwear: £3.89, skirts and trousers: £3.82 7 | |
| Menswear: 4.25; Examples from the menswear category: shits, t-shirts & knitwear: £3.90, trousers £4 7 | |
| Proportion of all retail units which are charity shops | 3.65% 8 |
| Proportion of all retail units which are vacant | 13.7% in Oct-Dec 2020 9 |
| Amount charity shops save councils in waste disposal charges | At least £31 million each year by diverting 339,000 tonnes of textiles away from landfill or incineration 10 |
| Sources | |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | QMA refers to the CRA’s quarterly market analysis CRA’s QMA reports 2018/19 CRA’s Workforce report, November 2020 CRA’s Workforce report, November 2019 CRA’s “Find a shop” data from 1 Oct 2020 CRA’s QMA reports 2019/20 CRA’s Average selling prices report, Jan-Dec 2019 CRA’s “Find a shop” data from 1 Oct 2020 and ONS data from November 2020 CRA’s “Find a shop” data from 1 Oct 2020 and ONS data from November 2020 CRA’s QMA reports 2018/19 and WRAP’s Gate Fees 2019/20 Report |
Updated 30 April 2021