Retail sales across Great Britain shrank last month, as consumers took a cautious approach to Christmas shopping. Retail sales volumes dipped by 0.3% month on month in December, the Office for National Statistics has reported, missing forecasts of a 0.4% rise.
The ONS reports that sales volumes at supermarkets fell, with food stores sales volumes down 1.9%, which was partly offset by a rise in sales at non-food stores such as clothing shops.
December’s drop in retail sales followed a small 0.1% rise in November.
Over the last three months, the sales volumes (the amount of stuff bought in the shops or online) fell by 0.8% compared with the three months to September.
This suggests consumer spending weakened towards the end of last year – several surveys have suggested that confidence declined.
However, there is a wrinkle – the ONS seasonally adjusts its data, to adjust for the impact of Christmas spending, and because Black Friday (29 November this year) fell in its December reporting period this year, which muddied the data.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, sales volumes rose by 10% in December.
The pound has weakened after this morning’s weaker than expected retail sales figures.
Sterling has fallen by more than half a cent to $1.218, towards the 14-month lows hit against the US dollar last week.
The National Bureau of Statistics of China reported overnight that China’s economy grew by 5% in 2024. That means it hit Beijing’s official target of “around 5%”.
The target was reached thanks to a burst of activity in the fourth quarter of last year. GDP rose at an annual rate of 5.4% in October-December, beating the market’s expectation and helped by a flurry of stimulus measures.
The agenda
• 2pm GMT: IMF to release its latest World Economic Outlook
Memo for Rachel Reeves: regulators cannot produce growth out of thin air 
