British retail sales plummet as eurozone growth picks up pace

British retail sales posted their biggest quarterly fall in seven years during the first three months of 2017, as rising prices since last year’s Brexit vote put more pressure on consumers, official data shows.

Sterling fell to a day’s low, yesterday, after the weaker-than-expected figures. Retail sales volumes contracted 1.4% in the first quarter after rising 0.8% in the last three months of 2016, Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It was the biggest quarterly decline since the first quarter of 2010, and is likely to reinforce the view among many economists that household spending — the main driver of the UK economy — is now slowing sharply.