By Tuba Sahin
ANKARA (AA) - The UK's retail sales volumes declined for the fifth consecutive month in September, down by 0.2% month-on-month, according to the country’s statistical authority on Friday.
This is the longest period of consecutive monthly falls ever, the Office of National Statistics said in a statement.
The reading followed an upwardly revised 0.6% fall in August.
"Despite the fall in September, volumes were 4.2% higher than their pre-coronavirus pandemic February 2020 levels," it said.
Retail sales in September were pulled down by lower sales in non-food stores which was down 1.4%. This was driven by household goods stores (down 9.3%), such as furniture and lighting stores, and other non-food stores (down 1.7%) such as sports equipment stores.
Automotive fuel sales volumes climbed 2.9% on a monthly basis in September thanks to rising demand.
Food store sales volumes rose by 0.6% last month.
Compared to the same month of last year, retail sales volume fell 1.3% in September 2021.