THE value of Scottish retail sales fell in the fourth quarter, as shop-price deflation more than offset a rise in volumes, official figures have shown.

Scottish retail sales fell by 0.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in value terms in the final three months of last year. This fall in value occurred even though retail sales volumes north of the Border rose by 0.6 per cent during the fourth quarter.

In Great Britain as a whole, the value of retail sales increased by 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2015. In volume terms, the rise was 1.1 per cent.

Comparing the final quarter of last year with the same period of 2014, Scottish retail sales were down by 0.9 per cent by value but up by 2.2 per cent in volume terms.

The figures underline the pressure on retailers amid the deflationary environment in the struggling UK economy.

The Scottish figures signalled that small and medium-sized retailers continued to perform better than their larger counterparts during the fourth quarter.

In volume rather than value terms, small and medium-sized retailers in Scotland achieved a 2.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in sales in the final three months of last year, while large players achieved only a 0.1 per cent increase.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Retail sales figures in Scotland have consistently been at a low ebb over the past few years, with retailers having to work ever harder to maintain, let alone grow, sales at a time of profound structural, economic and regulatory change for the industry.”

He added: “Responding positively to these changes and becoming more productive will require retailers to invest in new technology, a higher-skilled workforce, revamped warehouses and logistics capabilities. That is all the more challenging against a backdrop in which retail sales are weak [and] shop prices are falling.”