Food store sales volumes rose by 3.4% in January, recovering from December’s record fall of 3.1%, new ONS data reveals.
The ONS said the recovery in food sales in January 2024, and the fall in food sales in December 2023, was mainly because of supermarkets.
In addition, fuel sales increased by 5.4% in January, as motorists capitalised on a fall in fuel prices. However, fuel sales are still 1.3% below the pre-pandemic level of February 2020.
The ONS data also reveals that the proportion of online sales fell from 26.8% in December to 24.8% in January.
Overall retail sales increased by 3.4%, more than double the 1.5% rise forecast by analysts, not since April 2021 has there been a rise as large as the recovery from December to January.
Silvia Rindone, EY UK&I Retail Lead, said: “January traditionally poses challenges for retailers as consumer budgets are stretched following the festive period, however after a record fall of 3.3% in December 2023, retail sales volumes rebounded by 3.4% in January, showing signs of a potential return to growth in 2024.”
