Retail sales in the UK picked up slightly in January 2023.

Motorists filled up their cars more often with petrol and diesel in January, as the cost of fuel continued to fall, and automotive fuel sales volumes rose by 1.7 per cent.

Discounting helped boost sales for online retailers as well as jewellers, cosmetic stores, and carpet and furnishing shops. But despite the slight rise in retail sales in January, the trend appears to be heading downwards. Sales volumes fell by 0.6 per cent in the three months to January, when compared with the previous three months. When compared with the same November to January period a year earlier, retail sales volumes were 5.7 per cent lower.As a result, last month’s overall sales volumes remained 1.4 per cent below pre-pandemic levels recorded in February 2020. Sales volumes for December, which showed a surprise slide in purchases, were also revised lower from a fall of one per cent to a fall of 1.2 per cent.

Many consumers reined in their spending over the festive season. Stubbornly high food and drink prices prompted consumers to cut back on their grocery purchases, and food store sales volumes fell by 0.5 per centin January 2023 after a fall of 0.7 per cent in December 2022. Shoppers have continued to cut back on food purchases amid rampant increases in grocery prices and the squeeze on household budgets.