Retail sales have slumped to their biggest annual fall in nearly three years as shoppers tightened their purse string after Christmas, according to the latest survey by the CBI.
Its distributive trades survey for January showed the balance for reported sales volumes plunged to -22 – a sharp turnaround on December’s +9. The downturn was the lowest since March 2009 when the country was in recession. Analysts had forecast a fall to -6.
The survey results came a day after official figures showed the economy contracted by 0.2% in the final three months of last year and highlighted the grim state of the high street. A number of retailers have gone bust since Christmas.
CBI chief economic advisor Ian McCafferty said: “Shoppers have reined in spending across the board at the start of the new year, after taking advantage of early discounting last month, which boosted pre-Christmas sales.
“Consumers are still holding off, particularly from buying big-ticket items, like washing machines and fridges.”
