Overall retail sales rose 8.2% by value and 5.3% by volume in January compared to the same month last year, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Monthly sales values for food stores were 2.7% higher than in the same month last year but all the growth came from inflation with volumes 2.3% lower than a year ago.

Clothing and footwear sales rose by 4.9% by value and 2.9% by volume in January, compared with the same month last year. Household goods stores were shown to have experienced strong growth, with sales up 8.1% and volumes up 9.8%

The ONS said the monthly pattern of retail sales has been affected by the increase in VAT and the adverse weather conditions experienced pre-Christmas, when retail sales declined. Sales grew month-on-month between December and January by 1.9%.

Kate Davies, statistician for the Retail Sales Inquiry, said: “The underlying picture may therefore be better considered by noting that a 1.9 per cent growth in January and a decline of -1.4 in December combines to give a 0.5 per cent increase over these two months.”

The data from the ONS also showed that non-store retail sales were was 22.1% higher by volume and 21.3% more by value compared to a year ago.