UK 2019 retail sales see first annual fall since 1995

Source: Xinhua | 2020-01-10

Britain's total retail sales for 2019 dropped 0.1 percent, marking the first annual fall since 1995, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said on Thursday.

Statistics revealed that sales in November and December are particularly weak.

"At first glance, retailers' relentlessness paid off in December, with total sales up 1.9 percent. However, the later timing of Black Friday will have skewed the outcome. If looking at November and December combined, sales actually declined by 0.9 percent," said Paul Martin, UK head of retail in KPMG, which jointly released the report.

Martin said although online sales rose 12.8 percent in December, if taking a two-month average, growth online was "clearly muted at only 2.6 percent."

Meanwhile, according to the latest figures released on Dec. 19, 2019 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), British retail sales dropped 0.6 percent in November compared with the previous month.

ONS's data showed that in the three months running up to November, the quantity bought fell by 0.4 percent when compared with the previous three months.

"2019 was the worst year on record and the first year to show an overall decline in retail sales," said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.

Dickinson also said that British retail industry suffered in 2019, driven by "prospect of a no-deal Brexit, as well as political instability that concluded in a December General Election -- further weakening demand for the festive period."

"Looking forward, the public's confidence in Britain's trade negotiations will have a big impact on spending over the coming year," added Dickinson.