THE value of Scottish retail sales edged up by 0.1 per cent in the opening three months of this year, following two consecutive quarters of decline, official figures have shown.
However, the seasonally-adjusted rise in the first quarter, revealed in Scottish Government figures, was adrift of a corresponding 0.3 per cent rise in retail sales value in Great Britain as a whole.
Part of the weakness of growth in retail sales value reflects continuing shop-price deflation.
Excluding the impact of deflation, retail sales volumes in Scotland rose by 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the opening three months of this year. This was slightly adrift of a corresponding 0.8 per cent increase in Great Britain as a whole but matched the increase in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The Scottish Government figures signal large retailers fared better than small and medium-sized players during the first quarter.
Figures published by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) have, in recent years, consistently shown weaker year-on-year movements in sales value north of the Border than in the UK as a whole.
The SRC has cited the boost to UK retail sales figures arising from the stronger economic and housing market performance in London and south-east England.
According to the Scottish Government figures, the value of retail sales north of the Border in the first quarter was up just 0.1 per cent on the same period of last year.
The value of retail sales in Scotland fell by 0.2 per cent during the third quarter of last year and by 0.3 per cent in the final three months of 2015.
SRC director David Lonsdale said: “The resumption of growth – albeit meagre - in the headline value of retail sales in the first quarter of this year is encouraging.”
However, he noted falling shop prices painted a “less rosy” picture.
Mr Lonsdale added: “With the value of retail sales over the past year as a whole decidedly flat, this suggests a continuing fragility to consumer confidence in Scotland, despite lower prices in shops and at the petrol pump and average pay rises outstripping inflation.”
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