LONDON, (Reuters) - Inflation-squeezed British shoppers cut back on almost everything other than food in the last three months of 2017, leading to the biggest fall in non-grocery spending since 2009, industry figures showed on Tuesday.
British inflation rose to its highest in nearly six years in November at 3.1 percent, largely as a result of the pound's fall after June 2016's Brexit vote, and many consumer-facing businesses have been coming under increased pressure.The British Retail Consortium, which represents large chains, said overall spending in the last three months of 2017 rose by a sluggish 1.1 percent, compared with an average annual growth rate of 1.7 percent for 2017 as a whole."Growth in spending was in line with the average for the year. However, the divergence between growth in sales of food and non-food has never been so stark," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.Non-food sales fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the biggest drop since March 2009, while food sales grew by 4.2 percent, the biggest jump since June.Visa said on Monday that a broader measure of consumer spending fell in December for the first time since 2012.The BRC said clothing sales did better last month than a year earlier, helped by colder-than-normal weather, while jewelry and toys underperformed compared with the year before.This partly mirrors trading statements from major retailers. Next