British retail sales rose in January, as food items continued to lead the growth, the British Retail Consortium and KPMG announced.
U.K. retail sales edged up 0.6% on a like-for-like basis in January, compared with the year-ago level, the same pace of annual growth as December 2017.
On a total basis, sales grew 1.4% in January, compared to the three- and 12-month averages of 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively, according to the report.
Food sales rose 2.9% on a like-for-like basis and 4.1% on a total basis over the three months to January.
"Rising food prices continued to inflate sales growth and absorb the lion's share of shoppers' squeezed budgets," said British Retail Consortium Chief Executive Helen Dickinson.
Meanwhile, nonfood retail sales over the three months to January dropped 1.2% on a like-for-like basis and 0.6% on a total basis. Online sales of nonfood items rose 5.3% in January 2018 year over year, compared with an 8.0% growth in January 2017.
"Overall though, the going remains bumpy as consumers are still seeing wages fall in real terms," Dickinson said.
"Although inflation will ease a bit this year these pressures will remain. So to ensure no more pain is added to household budgets, we want to see our Brexit negotiators focus on delivering the terms of the transition to provide businesses and consumers with some much-needed certainty."
