UK retail sales dropped in December, falling 0.3% on the month
2025.01.17 02:19
Investing.com – UK retail sales surprisingly fell in December, pointing to ongoing headwinds to consumer spending activity ahead of next month’s Bank of England meeting.
dropped by 0.3% last month, slipping from a revised gain of 0.1% in November, according to data released by the Office of National Statistics data earlier Friday.
Economists had predicted that retail sales, which mostly reflect goods and are not adjusted for inflation, would grow by 0.4%.
Retail sales rose by 3,6% on an annual basis, below the 4.2% growth expected, having seen no growth in November.
This followed on from data released earlier this month by the British Retail Consortium, pointing to a tricky time for retailers.
The BRC said total retail sales in 2024 as a whole rose by 0.7%, while like-for-like sales, which adjust for changes in retail floorspace, rose just 0.5%.
“Following a challenging year marked by weak consumer confidence and difficult economic conditions, the crucial ‘golden quarter’ failed to give 2024 the send-off retailers were hoping for,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
Similarly, data released on Thursday showed that Britain’s rose by just 0.1% in November from October, after falls in September and October.
This softness in the fourth quarter marks a significant slowdown in growth momentum and output activity compared to the robust performance in the first half of the year.
The has reduced its benchmark Bank Rate twice since August – less than other central banks – and it has stressed it is likely to move gradually on further interest rate cuts, given persistent inflation pressures in Britain’s economy.
It next meets in early February, and the pressure is mounting on the central bank to cut interest rates again, having last moved in November, reducing its base rate then to 4.75% from 5%.
