UK retail sales volumes rose unexpectedly in December, as the under-pressure food category enjoyed strong trading, official figures have revealed.

The data, published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed that retail sales volumes rose by 0.4 per cent month-on-month on a seasonally-adjusted basis in December.

The City had projected a 0.6 per cent decline in sales volumes in December. Retail sales volumes had surged by 1.6 per cent month-on-month in November, boosted by the Black Friday discounting frenzy imported from the US.

According to the ONS, retail sales volumes in December were up by 4.3 per cent on the same month of 2013. In November, sales volumes had been up by 6.4 per cent on a year earlier.

Retail sales volumes in the final three months of last year were up by 2.3 per cent on the third quarter, the official figures showed.

Food sales volumes rose by 1.3 per cent month-on-month in December.

In contrast, sales in the non-food category fell by 0.6 per cent. The non-specialised category, which takes in department stores, experienced a 4.5 per cent month-on-month tumble in sales.

There was a 4.7 per cent month-on-month fall in sales volumes in the household goods category in December. And sales volumes in the textiles, clothing and footwear category declined by 1.1 per cent.

David Kern, chief economist at British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Although retail sales [growth] slowed down in December, the long-term trends show continued expansion with annual growth in sales volumes in excess of four per cent. While it is positive that the retail sector is performing well, the UK economy still relies too heavily on consumer spending, and the contribution of exports and investment remains too low."

Paul Hollingsworth, UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said: "December's retail sales figures painted a surprisingly upbeat picture of high street

spending over the Christmas period. Although we doubt spending growth can

remain this strong, the prospects for the consumer recovery in 2015 remain bright."

However, he added: "Admittedly, the underlying picture is not quite as good as it seems. Indeed, the rise in sales in December was primarily driven by spending on food and petrol. Non-food stores did not fare as well, suggesting that Black Friday did prove to be a double-edged sword for some retailers.

"What's more, consumers may have funded extra spending on the high street by cutting back expenditure elsewhere."

Industry figures published earlier this week showed that Scottish retail sales in December were down on the same month of 2013, in contrast to a year-on-year rise in the UK as a whole.

The figures, published by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), show that the value of retail sales north of the Border in the key trading month of December was down 1.8 per cent on a year earlier.

Even taking into account annual shop price deflation calculated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market researcher Nielsen at 1.7 per cent, the SRC noted that the volume of retail sales in December was down by a rounded 0.2 per cent on the same month of 2013.

Figures published earlier this month by the BRC showed the value of UK retail sales last month was up one per cent on December 2013.