UK retail sales dropped unexpectedly in November as the Black Friday shopping event had a slightly weaker impact than usual, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Friday.
Retail sales dropped marginally by 0.1 percent in November from a month ago. The decline confounded expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent but this was slower than October's 0.9 percent decrease.
Excluding auto fuel, retail sales slid 0.2 percent after falling 0.8 percent in the previous month. Economists were expecting a monthly growth of 0.2 percent.
Food store sales decreased 0.5 percent in November from the last month. Meanwhile, non-food store sales increased 1.0 percent.
Non-store retailers' volume declined as demand for gold slowed, while supermarkets dropped for the fourth consecutive month.
On a yearly basis, retail sales logged a steady growth of 0.6 percent in November. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth eased to 1.2 percent from 1.6 percent in the prior month. In the three months to November, sales volume gained 0.6 percent from the preceding three months. This was partly due to strong clothing sales in September.
Online sales values rose 0.7 percent over the month to November 2025, and by 8.3 percent compared with November 2024.
Elsewhere, survey data from the market research group GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions today showed that consumer sentiment improved in December. The consumer confidence index rose to -17 from -19 in the previous month. The reading was the highest since August 2024.
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December 12, 2025 15:14 ET Central bank decisions dominated the economic news flow this week led by the Federal Reserve. Trade data from the U.S. also gained attention. The Canadian and Swiss central banks also announced their interest rate decisions. Inflation data from China was in focus as the country released the latest consumer price and producer price data.