Total retail sales increased by 1.2% year on year in December, against a growth of 3.2% in December 2024. However, this was below the 12-month average growth of 2.3%.
According to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), food sales increased by 3.1% year on year in December, against a growth of 1.7% in December 2024, but it was below the 12-month average growth of 3.7%.
Non-Food sales decreased by 0.3% year on year in December, against a growth of 4.4% in December 2024. While in-Store Non-Food sales decreased by 0.5% year on year in December, against a growth of 0.4% in December 2024.
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Online Non-Food sales decreased by 0.1% year on year in December, against a growth of 11.1% in December 2024.
The online penetration rate (the proportion of Non-Food items bought online) increased to 38.6% in December from 38.5% in December 2024.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the BRC, said it “was a drab Christmas for retailers, as sales growth slowed for the fourth consecutive month”.
“While food sales rose on the back of ongoing food inflation, non-food sales fell flat in the run up to Christmas, with gifting items doing worse than expected,” she said.
“Many people were clearly holding out for discounts, with the last week showing significant growth off the back of Boxing Day and beginning of the January sales. Despite the disappointing December, 2025 saw stronger sales growth overall, as non-food recovered from its 2024 decline.”
Dickinson added: “These figures show that consumer spending remains cautious, with households squeezed by the rising cost of living. Now is the time to support struggling families with the cost of food and essentials and give the economy the boost it needs.”
Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer, retail & leisure, KPMG, said: “While there are individual festive success stories among retailers, retail sales largely froze in December. Total retail sales climbed by 1.2 percent, with higher inflation also a factor in the sales growth.
“It remains a challenging time for retailers, with consumers cutting back on spending due to higher household bills and any discretionary spend is being prioritised, particularly toward holidays and home improvements.”
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