Statistical bulletin: Retail Sales, December 2013

Part of Retail Sales, December 2013 Release

Released: 17 January 2014 – Download PDF

Contents

• Key Points
• Additional Information
• Key Figures
• At a Glance
• Distribution Analysis
• Sector Summary
• Internet Sales
• Background notes
• Statistical contacts

Key Points

• Year-on-year estimates of the quantity bought in the retail industry showed strong growth in December 2013, increasing by 5.3% compared with December 2012. Comparing the 12 months of 2013 with the 12 months of 2012 the quantity bought in 2013 increased by 1.6% compared with 2012.
• Non-seasonally adjusted data show that small stores experienced higher growth year-on-year than large stores with the amount spent in small stores increasing by 8.1% compared with 2.6% in large stores. Non-food stores provided the main contribution to the growth in the amount spent at small stores.
• The underlying pattern in the data as suggested by the three month-on-three month movement show much weaker growth (0.4%) than suggested by the year-on-year increase (5.3%). Contractions in the quantity bought in food stores and petrol stations continued to offset growth in the quantity bought in non-food stores and non-store retailing.
• On the month the picture is one of strong growth with the quantity bought increasing by 2.6%. All store types saw an increase in the quantity bought but perhaps most notable is the record month-on-month increase in the quantity bought at department stores of 8.7%.
• In December 2013, the amount spent in the retail industry increased by 6.1% compared with December 2012 and by 2.6% compared with November 2013. Non-seasonally adjusted data show that the average weekly spend in the retail industry in December 2013 was £8.8 billion compared with £8.5 billion in December 2012 and £7.5 billion in November 2013.
• Internet sales, which are seasonally adjusted for the first time in this release, increased by 11.8% in December 2013 compared with December 2012 and by 1.8% compared with November 2013.
• Non-seasonally adjusted data show that the proportion of sales made online decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 11.8% of all retail sales (excluding automotive fuel).

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.1.0.