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January 22, 2021UK RETAIL SALES, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2020 The UK Office for National Statistics reports that UK retail sales recovered in December 2020, following a decline in November 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Retail sales volumes were 2.7% above February 2020 levels. Retail sales values were 1.2% higher than in February 2020.
- Month-over-month retail sales value increased 0.4% while the retail sales volume (adjusted for price changes) increased 0.3% over November 2020.
- Year-over-year retail sales value increased 1.3% and retail sales volume increased 2.9% over December 2019.
- Annual retail sales values were down 2.7% while retail sales volume declined 2.1% over 2019 due to the impacts of COVID-19, the largest annual fall since the records began in 1997. The largest fall was reported in clothing stores (-25.1%) while non-store retailing increased 32.0% over 2019.
Internet sales
- Online retail sales decreased by 6.2% in December when compared with November 2020.
- In December 2020, online sales share of all retail sales decreased to 29.6% from 31.7% in November 2020. Online sales share of all retail sales increased from 20.2% in February 2020 to 29.6% in December 2020.
- In 2020, online retail sales increased by 46.1% compared with 2019, the largest annual increase since 2008.
Source: UK Office for National Statistics: Statistical Bulletin, Retail Sales Data, Internet Sales Data, COVID-19 and the production of statistics
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