Retail sales in October rose by 0.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a month earlier, higher than analysts' forecasts of a 0.4 per cent monthly rise, according to figures by National Statistics.
On a year-on-year basis, retail sales growth was 6 per cent - above analysts' expectations of a 5.0 per cent rise.
In the three months to October, sales rose an adjusted 1.6 per cent on the previous three months and were up 5.3 per cent from a year ago.
Based on non-seasonally adjusted data, the average weekly value of retail sales in October was £4.47 billion sterling, 5.1 per cent higher than in October 2001.
In the three months to October, the value of sales in current prices was up 4.3 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.
AFP