The UK’s retail sector saw an unexpected rebound in December, with the total volume of sales rising by 0.4% compared to the previous month, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This follows a 0.1% decline in November, and comes as a surprise to many analysts who had expected sales to remain flat over the key Christmas period. The ONS noted that the increase was driven by a strong performance from online retailers, with sales across the sector rising by 4.4% – the largest increase since February 2025.
Within the online space, jewellery retailers reported particularly strong demand for gold and silver products, helping to offset weaker sales in physical stores. Overall, the December figures mean that retail sales volumes for the full year 2025 rose by 1.3%, the biggest increase since 2021.
However, the monthly rise was not enough to fully offset the declines seen in October and November, leaving sales volumes down by 0.3% in the crucial final quarter of the year. The ONS noted that non-food stores, including clothing and footwear retailers, experienced a 0.9% drop in sales – the worst performance since May 2025.
“Sales were up in December, with internet retailing doing well,” said ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach. “Within this, online jewellers had a strong month and told us there was higher demand for gold and silver.”
The data comes after several major retailers reported a challenging festive period, with many citing consumer uncertainty ahead of the November 2025 budget as a key factor weighing on spending. However, the latest consumer confidence figures from GfK suggest that household “resilience” may be starting to improve, raising hopes that spending could continue to recover in 2026.
“We think consumers’ spending should continue to recover in 2026 as policy uncertainty continues to ease, inflation falls, and the Monetary Policy Committee reduces interest rates in April,” said Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist at Pantheon.
