Demand for online jewellery boosts December retail sales

Demand for online jewellery helped boost retail sales in December, despite a difficult festive period overall for retailers, figures show.

Sales were up 0.4% from the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, citing online jewellers reporting an increased demand for precious metals such as gold and silver.

Internet shopping performed well, while there was a small rise for supermarkets and sales of automotive fuel. But sales for non-food retailers, such as department, clothing and household stores, were down 0.9%.

The monthly rise – larger than expected – comes after sales fell unexpectedly in November, even though it included Black Friday sales.

Retail sales had fallen by 0.1% in November, which followed a 0.8% drop in October.

Monthly growth rates can be volatile, and ONS said sales volumes fell by 0.3% in the final three months of last year when compared to the previous quarter, with supermarkets and online stores both seeing a fall.

The end of the year is a key period for retailers, as for many stores the festive season generates the bulk of their annual sales and profits.

Across 2025 as a whole, retail sales were up 1.3%, with stronger performances for both food and non-food stores, and non-store retailers (mainly online sellers but also street stalls and markets).

This represents the second consecutive annual rise, but sales still remain below 2019 pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: “The last three months of the year saw a slight drop in retail sales following a strong third quarter, with supermarkets and online stores both down.

“However, sales were up in December, with internet retailing doing well. Within this, online jewellers had a strong month and told us there was higher demand for gold and silver.”

The rising cost of living has squeezed shoppers’ purses, and businesses have complained of higher costs following changes announced in the past two Budgets.

Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at Wealth Club, said the figures showed there was “no festive cheer on the high street” as Christmas shoppers increasingly turned online.

“Among online retailers, jewellers enjoyed a particularly golden Christmas. In uncertain times shoppers seem to be being drawn to dual purpose jewels that not only tick the Christmas present box, but provide a convenient long-term store of value as well.”

Precious metals are seen as safer assets to hold in times of uncertainty, and the prices of both gold and silver have soared over the past year.

In recent days they reached record highs as investors reacted to the threat by US President Donald Trump to impose fresh tariffs on eight European countries opposed to his proposed takeover of Greenland.

Alice Cowley, managing director in Accenture’s retail practice, said the “modest” monthly rise in UK retail sales would bring some relief after a “difficult autumn”.

“But while food, discounts and holiday preparations pushed up sales, it wasn’t enough to drive significant growth,” she continued.

“With Christmas being a crucial time for the sector, those wishing for a bumper trading period were left disappointed.”

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, which analyses consumer confidence, said: “We remain a long way from consumers feeling that better days are around the corner.”

GfK’s latest consumer confidence index edged up by one point in January to minus 16, and it is now 10 years since the index showed a positive number.

Over the coming year, Capital Economics expects consumer spending to remain “fairly soft”.

UK economist Alex Kerr at Capital said it believed “the combination of weak employment and slower wage growth will prevent a meaningful pick-up in consumer spending growth in 2026”.