The British economy grew 0.6 per cent in the third quarter of the year, and retail sales shot up 0.6 per cent last month.
The data will likely be seen by financial markets as ensuring an interest rate rise from the Bank of England next month after it voted this month to keep rates at 3.5 per cent.
The Office for National Statistics said that the 0.6 per cent rise in gross domestic product took the level of output 1.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. Both numbers were in line with expectations, and the 0.6 per cent growth is the same as that for the second quarter.
But the retail sales figures were overall very strong, especially as August and July's figures were revised up sharply.
The Bank of England's main concern is the strength of consumer spending and the housing market so a rate rise before Christmas is looking even more likely.