UK households spent £1.1bn more on groceries in December for fewer items

Spending higher than year earlier, with World Cup football pushing up beer sales

Households in the UK spent 1.1bn more on groceries in December than a year earlier, taking Christmas spending to a record 12.8bn, but got fewer items in their baskets as rampant inflation hit home.

In a clear indication of how soaring prices are hammering household budgets, the latest monthly report from retail analysts Kantar showed that despite the overall amount shoppers spent rising more than 9%, the volume of sales was down 1% on the same month in 2021.