Retail sales in Britain tumbled and government borrowing soared in January after the country re-entered lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Friday.

Retail sales slumped 8.2 per cent last month compared with December, the sharpest fall since April 2020, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

“All sectors saw a monthly decline in volume sales... except for non-store retailers and food stores,” the ONS added.

All sectors saw a monthly decline in volume sales... except for non-store retailers and food stores- UK Office for National Statistics

Separate ONS figures showed government net borrowing hit £8.8 billion (€10.1bn) in January, a record for the month and the first January deficit for a decade.

Since April 2020, or soon after the UK’s first virus lockdown, public sector net borrowing has ballooned by £270.6 billion. Overall public sector net debt stands at £2.1 trillion, or around 98 per cent of Britain’s total annual economic output.

Finance minister Rishi Sunak on Friday reiterated the need for Britain to return to “a more sustainable footing”, as he prepares for his annual budget next month.

UK debt has rocketed over the past year, largely as the government pays the bulk of wages for millions of private sector workers.

Sunak said in a statement that investing more than £280 billion to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods under its furlough scheme “is the fiscally responsible thing to do”.

He added, however, that “it’s right that once our economy begins to recover, we should look to return the public finances to a more sustainable footing and I’ll always be honest with the British people about how we will do this”.

Britain’s economy shrank by a record 9.9 per cent last year but a rapid vaccines rollout has boosted the outlook.

Activity was hampered also by Brexit turmoil ahead of Britain’s final exit from the European Union.

Much of the UK re-entered lockdown in early January to curb a variant COVID-19 strain that was deemed more transmissible.