London retail sales lowest since 2005

UK retail sales may have risen 1.2% compared with November 2006, however London's sales have seen a decline. According to the Retail Sales Monitor, sales in Central London in November were 0.4% higher than a year earlier, the weakest since October 2005 and compared with an 8.5% year-on-year increase in November 2006, when sales were recovering from the July 2005 bombings.

Retail footfall slowed in November, falling just below its year-earlier level, as in the UK as a whole, after two months of stronger growth. Europeans remained the main spenders, while both American and Japanese visitors continued to be discouraged by the weakness of the dollar and the yen. Clothing and footwear sales continued to struggle in the mild weather, though designer fashions remained strong.

The Retail Sales Monitor currently represents approximately 60% of UK retail sales value. This is then re-weighted according to the Office of National Statistics to cover the entire industry.