UK retail sales showed less growth over Christmas than they did last year, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Retail sales increased by 0.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis from December 2016, which was a decline compared to an increase of 1.0 per cent from the preceding year.

Over the three months to December 2017, non-food sales saw a decline of 3.7 per cent on a total basis and 4.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, the sharpest drop since December 2012 when BRC’s records began.

In the three months to December, food sales saw a growth of 2.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis and 4.2 per cent on a total basis. This was the highest increase since June 2012 and is above the 12 month total average growth of 3.4 per cent.

E-commerce performed well, with non-food sales showing an increase of 7.6 per cent in December.