Retail sales fell sharply between January and February, recording a drop of 0.8 per cent following the end of post-Christmas discounting, official statistics reveal.

Retail sales fell sharply between January and February, recording a drop of 0.8 per cent following the end of post-Christmas discounting, official statistics reveal.

Both food stores and non-food stores suffered, with falls of 0.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. Non-food retailers endured particularly poor results. The statistics show sales in non-specialised stores fell 3.2 per cent, which is the largest decrease since February 2009.

Online trading continues to rise, notes the ONS. Non-store sales increased 0.5 per cent in the period, while car fuel purchases increased by 0.6 per cent.

Overall, the 0.8 per cent fall in total sales for the months contrasts with the 1.1 per cent rise recorded between December and January.

Compared with February last year, the total volume of retail sales increased by 1.3 per cent. This was buoyed by online shopping (up 17.3 per cent) and fuel (up 3.2 per cent). Sales in food stores continued to decline, decreasing by 2.2 per cent compared with non-food stores, which saw an increase of 2.0 per cent.

In the past year, the increase in sales in other stores was driven by sales of computers and telecoms equipment as well as sports goods, games and toys.