UK retail sales plummet in December as Omicron sweeps nation

Six times greater than predicted

UK retail sales plummeted in December, with the amount of goods sold in stores and online falling 3.7% from November, compared to a decrease of just 0.6% predicted by economists.

The Office for National Statistics said that the decrease was driven by a 7.1% drop in sales at non-food stores, while fuel sales fell 4.7% as working from home caused reduced travel. Food store sales fell by 1%, however despite their fall, they were still 2% above levels in February 2020. Customers also increasingly used the internet for purchases, with the proportion of retail sales online rising to 26.6% from 26.3% in November. The number stood at 19.7% before the pandemic. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that "although the...