LONDON DAILY ARCHIVE

UK Retail Sales Surge 1.3% in November, Exceeding Forecasts

UK retail sales exceeded expectations with a 1.3% increase in November, according to the Office for National Statistics. This growth surpassed the 0.4% median forecast projected by economists in a Reuters survey. Year-over-year, sales in November saw a modest rise of 0.1%, contrary to the predicted 1.3% decline.

30 December 2023 · 03:56 UTC

When excluding automotive fuel, sales also saw a 1.3% monthly increase and a slight 0.3% rise from the previous year. Despite high borrowing costs and inflation rates surpassing wage growth over the last two years, British consumers are still spending. The ONS corrected their October data, initially reporting a 0.3% decrease, to indicate that sales were actually unchanged from the previous month.