UK retail sales rose by 11.9% on a total basis in January against a decline of 1.3% in the same month a year ago as retailers experienced strong demand for furniture and homewares.
According to figures from the British Retail Consortium, sales were up 7.5% compared to the same month in 2020 before the pandemic struck.
On a like-for-like basis, UK retail sales grew by 8.1% on January 2021 when they had increased 7.1%.
Over the three months to January, food sales edged down 0.1% year-on-year on a total basis and by 0.5% on a like-for-like basis.
Meanwhile, non-food sales increased by 11.1% on a total basis and by 6.5% like-for-like over the same period.
