UK retail sales plummet in December as Omicron sweeps nation

The Office for National Statistics said that the decrease was driven by a 7.1% drop in sales at non-food stores, while fuel sales fell 4.7% as working from home caused reduced travel. Food store sales fell by 1%, however despite their fall, they were still 2% above levels in February 2020. Customers also increasingly used the internet for purchases, with the proportion of retail sales online rising to 26.6% from 26.3% in November. The number stood at 19.7% before the pandemic. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that "although the...