Retail sales volumes dropped more than expected to start the year, with nearly all sectors reporting declines, according to official figures.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that sales were down 1.3% in January compared to the previous month. The fall was the first monthly decline since July 2005.
Analysts had expected a more modest drop of 0.2%.
The figures showed decreases on the month for all retail sectors, save for non-store retailing, which remained static.
Household goods posted the sharpest fall, declining 3% after an uncharacteristically strong December sales period.
“We would caution against reading too much into today’s retail sales figures,” said George Buckley, UK economist at Deutsche Bank. “The decline of 1.3% is probably in no small part related to seasonal and calendar adjustment difficulties.
“It is too early to conclude whether the January numbers reflect a genuine renewed slowdown on the High Street, or whether it is simply a matter of consumers adjusting after the excesses of Christmas. We suspect that there is support for both explanations.”
Sales volumes in the three months to January, however, grew an opposite 1.3% over the previous three months. This rate follows growth of 1.6% in the three months to December, the ONS said.
The growth during this time period was positive across all retail sectors except for ‘other’ non-food stores.
On the year, retail sales in January were up 2.6%, the ONS said.
