UK retail sales rebound after Christmas slump; company insolvencies rise – as it happened

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as retail sales in Great Britain rebound by 3.4% in January

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Although retail sales volumes jumped last month, online spending fell by 4.1%.

The proportion of sales made online fell from 26.8% in December 2023 to 24.8% in January 2024.

There was promising news as sales volumes rose for the second time in three months, following 19 prior months of decline.

This reflected rising levels of consumer confidence, as well as a boost from the January sales. Categories, such as computing, and cosmetic & toiletries performed well. Food sales continued to outstrip non-food sales - mainly due to higher levels of inflation on these products.