UK retail sales suffer sharpest monthly drop since the pandemic

3.2% decline

UK retail sales fell more than expected in December, suffering the sharpest monthly drop since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Office for National Statistics said today (19 January).

Retail sales volumes fell 3.2% between November and December, following a 1.4% rise in the previous month.  This came against expectations by economists polled by Reuters of just a 0.5% point fall, and was the largest monthly decline since January 2021, when coronavirus restrictions affected sales. Non-food store sales volumes fell by 3.9% last month, following a 2.7% increase in November when Black Friday discounts increased sales.  UK inflation unexpectedly rises to 4% in December "Food stores performed very poorly, with their steepest fall since May 2021 as early Christmas sh...