Retail sales fall as people cut back on food shopping

Published8 minutes ago

UK retail sales fell in May with households cutting back on food shopping as the rising cost of living bites into household budgets.

Overall retail sales fell by 0.5% last month, following a rise of 0.4% in April, official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said the drop was due to lower sales volumes in food stores, which fell by 1.6%.

It comes as a long-running measure of consumer confidence recorded its lowest score since records began in 1974.

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