UK retail sales fall by more than expected in December as higher inflation causes reduced consumer spending

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Retail sales fell by more than expected in December, confirming a weak Christmas trading period for shops and showing that UK consumers are still reining in their spending in the face of higher inflation.

The Office for National Statistics reported that sales volumes were down 1.5 per cent in the month, worse than the 0.8 per cent City of London analysts had pencilled in.

The drop cancelled out the 1.1 per cent gain seen in November.

The annual growth rate of sales volumes fell to 1.4 per cent, well below the 3 per cent City analysts had expected.

On a quarterly basis, the growth in sales volumes was 0.4 per cent, the weakest rate seen since the beginning of 2017, when volumes fell by 1.2 per cent.

The inflation rate actually declined slightly to 3 per cent in December, the ONS reported earlier this week, although this remains well ahead of average annual wage growth.

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