UK retail sales fall unexpectedly, finishing worst year on record

UK retail sales fell unexpectedly last month, capping the worst year on record after a cost-of-living squeeze and strikes rattled the industry.

The volume of goods purchased in shops and online dropped 1 per cent in December after a decline of 0.5 per cent the month before, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Economists had expected a gain of 0.5 per cent.

The drop was driven by non-food sales as “consumers cut back on spending because of increased prices and affordability concerns,” the ONS said.

In a sign of how red-hot inflation is eroding consumers’ spending power, sales were 13.6 % higher in value terms in December compared with pre-Covid per cent levels, but volumes were 1.7 per cent lower. That means consumers are having to pay more to buy less.

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In a sign of how red-hot inflation is eroding consumers’ spending power, sales were 13.6 per cent higher in value terms in December compared with pre-Covid levels, but volumes were 1.7 per cent lower. That means consumers are having to pay more to buy less.

Postal strikes in the run-up to Christmas drove more customers into bricks-and-mortar stores over online shopping. The share of online sales slipped to 25.4 per cent and fell by 8.9 per cent compared to a year earlier. – Bloomberg