UK retail sales slump points to new risk of recession

A shopper carries bags from Selfridges & Co. Ltd. department store along Oxford Street in London, UK. Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

British retailers suffered the biggest drop in sales for almost three years during December, raising the risk that the economy entered recession in the fourth quarter, official data showed on Friday.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales volumes shrank 3.2% between December and November - the biggest drop since January 2021 and worse than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to a 0.5% drop.