November retail sales fell by 0.6 per cent when compared with the previous month, with only household goods reporting growth.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures put year-on-year growth at one per cent – the lowest growth since April 2018, owing to a decline of 1.1 per cent in non-food stores.

Online sales as a proportion of all retailing were 18.7 per cent last month, down from 19.1 per cent in October, although internet sales increased by 2.6 per cent year-on-year.

The largest November sales growth of 8.9 per cent was reported in the non-store retailing sector. In contrast, non-food stores reported a fall of 4.9 per cent, with department stores reporting the largest fall within the sector of 17 per cent, continuing the decline witnessed in the second half of 2019.

Within non-food stores, slight growth in department stores and household goods stores were offset by stronger declines in other stores, resulting in an overall decline of 0.4 per cent for the amount spent and 0.3 per cent in the quantity bought.

ONS head of retail sales Rhian Murphy said: “Retail sales fell in the latest three months, which is the first decline seen since April 2018 – all main sectors saw their sales fall with the exception of food stores.

“The spending dip in November was the fourth consecutive month to see no growth.”

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