Retail sales in Great Britain fall as Omicron keeps shoppers away
Spending by consumers in Great Britain dropped by almost 4% in December as the arrival of the Omicron variant kept people away from the shops, official figures show.
In a key month for retailers, sales volumes dropped by 3.7% in an across-the-board slump that included food, clothing and footwear, household goods and department stores.
Retailers had seen some Christmas spending brought forward to November when a 1% monthly rise was helped by Black Friday bargains.
Even so, the December fall was much sharper than the 0.6% drop forecast by the financial markets.
Bethany Beckett, a UK analyst at Capital Economics, said: “The huge 3.7% month-on-month fall in retail sales in December was much bigger than we and the consensus had expected and supports our view that the surge in Omicron Covid-19 cases in the run-up to Christmas may have dragged down GDP by 0.5% month on month, if not more.”
Beckett added that the 4.7% monthly drop in fuel sales was consistent with people staying at home rather than risking a trip to the high street.
The ONS said the monthly fall in the last month of 2021 still left retail sales 2.6% above their pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
Heather Bovill, ONS deputy director for surveys and economic indicators, said feedback from retailers showed a clear Omicron effect.
“As plan B restrictions in England meant more people working from home, there was a notable fall for fuel sales.
“However, despite the fall in December, retail sales are still stronger than before the pandemic, with over a quarter of sales now made online.”
In 2021 as a whole, the volume of retail sales rose by 5.1%, the highest annual growth since 2004, but the ONS said the figures should be treated with caution because of the fall in high street
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