UK retail sales declined on-month in December and significantly missed the consensus estimates, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.

UK retail sales volumes decreased 0.3% month-on-month in December, worsening from 0.1% growth in November and falling far short of the FXStreet-cited market consensus of 0.4% growth.

On an annual basis, retail sales grew 3.6% in December. This missed the FXStreet consensus of 4.2%, but represented an acceleration no change in the year to November. Notably, November’s figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported 0.5% increase.

Excluding fuel, retail sales declined 0.6% on-month compared to November’s 0.1%, missing consensus which anticipated 0.1% growth again.

Annually, sales excluding fuel rose 2.9% and improved from the November 0.5% decline, but fell short of consensus estimate of 3.6% growth.

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