Retail sales in Scotland increased by 0.1% during the first quarter of 2014 according to the Retail Sales Index, lagging behind sales across the UK which increased 0.7%.

On an annual basis, comparing the latest quarter to the same quarter of the previous year (2014 Q1 on 2013 Q1), retail sales volumes grew by 2.4%, whilst UK-wide sales grew 4.2%.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Today's Retail Sales Index statistics show that retail sales performance has continued to grow over the past year, highlighting steady signs of economic growth.

"This builds on our most recent GDP figures, which show that the Scottish economy grew by 1.6% during 2013 - the fastest annual growth since 2007."