WASHINGTON, DC - The National Retail Federation (NRF) has shared a closer look at retail performance for the year 2022, reporting that sales during 2022’s November–December holiday season grew 5.3 percent over 2021 to $936.3 billion, with grocery placing among the top three retail categories to see such growth.

“The last two years of retail sales have been unprecedented, and no one ever thought it was sustainable,” NRF President and Chief Executive Officer Matthew Shay said. “Nonetheless, we closed out 2022 with impressive annual retail sales and a respectable holiday season despite historic levels of inflation and interest rate hikes to cool the economy. Consumers shopped in record numbers, and retailers delivered positive holiday experiences to inflation-wary consumers, offering great products at more promotional price levels to fit their stretched budgets. The fact that we saw retail sales growth on top of December’s 14 percent gain in 2022 shows the resilience of consumers and the creativity of retailers in driving consumption and economic activity while addressing high inflation and continued cost pressures.”

The organization’s latest press release stated that while holiday growth was less than expected, sales for the year grew 7 percent over 2021 to $4.9 trillion, meeting NRF’s forecast of between 6 percent and 8 percent growth for the year.

Holiday sales for grocery and beverage stores specifically were up 7.8 percent for the November through December time frame, pointing to potentially strong gains in the fresh department.

The holiday results top the $889.3 billion spent during the 2021 holiday season, which NRF defines as November 1 through December 31, and compare with the federation’s forecast that 2022 holiday retail sales would increase between 6 percent and 8 percent over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion.

“We knew it could be touch-and-go for final holiday sales given early shopping in October that likely pulled some sales forward plus price pressures and cold, stormy weather,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “The pace of spending was choppy, and consumers may have pulled back more than we had hoped, but these numbers show that they navigated a challenging, inflation-driven environment reasonably well. The bottom line is that consumers are still engaged and shopping despite everything happening around them.”

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National Retail Federation