The National Retail Federation announced Wednesday that it expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to increase between 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent over 2017 for a total of $717.45 billion to $720.89 billion. The forecast compares with an average annual increase of 3.9 percent over the past five years. The holiday forecast is consistent with NRF’s forecast that annual retail sales for 2018 will increase at least 4.5 percent over 2017.

For more detail on 2018 Holiday sales predictions, please click here.