January retail sales up 4.3% year-on-year
UK retail sales volumes rose by 4.3% year-on-year in January according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics today.
The ONS said there was 8% growth in non-food stores sales in January 2014 compared with the same month last year.
Stores selling household goods saw growth of 9.8%, which was the largest year-on-year increase since July 2007, but the ONS said the growth was partly a consequence of a weak January 2013 when heavy snowfall affected trading.
Looking at the short term picture, the quantity of goods bought in the retail industry fell by 1.5% in January compared with December 2013. However, the ONS noted that this followed particularly strong month-on-month growth in December of 2.5%.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Compared with January 2013, the amount spent online increased by 8.9% last month but fell by 3.3% compared with December 2013.
The ONS said the amount spent online accounted for 10.7% of all retail spending excluding automotive fuel.
