UK retail sales rise 6.9% in December but headwinds loom

British Retail Consortium

Retail sales in Britain grew 6.9% in December compared to the same month in 2021, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium, which warned of headwinds in 2023.

The reason for the growth was an uptick in spending over the Christmas period and the increase in cost of goods. However, growth remained below inflation, which stood at 10.7% in the UK in November. This meant December was the ninth consecutive month of falling volumes. "The numbers for sales growth in December look healthy, with sales values up by nearly 7% on last year, this is largely due to goods costing more and masks the fact that the volume of goods that people are buying is significantly down on this time last year," said Paul Martin, UK head of retail for KPMG. He also exp...