Retail Sales in December
|
According to National Statistics online December retail sales have showed a continuation of the increase seen in the summer of 2005. Retail sales in the three months from October to December were up 1.6% from the previous three months, which is the highest growth since July 2004. This figure is even more favourable when you consider that for the same period in 2004 there was a decrease of 0.3%.
The volume of sales for the three months to December 2005 was up 2.8%, which is the highest since March 2005. Non-specialised stores reported a growth at 4.4% and household goods at 4.4%.
The total sales volume increased by 0.4% between November and December, this continued on from the 0.9% increase in November and the 0.4% increase in October.
The volume of retail sales was 1.8% higher than the same period in 2004 with the average weekly sales in December being £6.4 billion, 3.6% higher than in 2004.
In 2005 as a whole, retail sales were estimated at £249 billion, which is 1% higher than in 2004. This growth is significantly down on the increase of 4.6% seen in 2004 and is the lowest growth since World War Two.
