December (2021) retail sales slump

• Coronavirus restrictions (Plan B) caused a sharp drop in retail sales in December in the UK as consumers opted to stay at home over concerns about the Omicron variant.
• Retail volumes dropped by 3.7 per cent in December, far more than the 0.6 per cent fall predicted by economists, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
• The decline was largely driven by a 7 per cent drop in the sale of non-food items compared with November.
• It is thought that shoppers brought forward their Christmas shopping over concerns that supply shortages could cause delays. The upshot of that is fewer presents bought in December than in previous years.

Source: ONS

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