UK retail sales expanded at the fastest pace in eight months in January due to the rebound in food store sales volume, the Office for National Statistics said Friday.
Retail sales volume increased 1.7 percent in January from December. The monthly growth confounded a revised fall of 0.6 percent in December.
This was the first increase in five months, the biggest growth in eight months and was also stronger than the expected increase of 0.4 percent.
Food store sales advanced 5.6 percent, marking the biggest monthly growth since March 2020. By contrast, non-food sales edged down 1.3 percent and auto fuel sales were down 1.2 percent.
Excluding auto fuel, retail sales registered a monthly rise of 2.1 percent, reversing a 0.9 percent decrease in December, data showed. Sales were forecast to grow 0.9 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales growth softened to 1.0 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December.
Excluding auto fuel, retail sales grew at a slower pace of 1.2 percent annually after rising 2.1 percent in the previous month.