There are clearer signs that consumers are feeling the pain of high inflation and successive interest rate hikes as Australian retailers have posted their first drop in sales in almost a year.

Shoppers across the nation spent $34.47 billion in December, a period which coincides with Christmas and Boxing Day sales.

That was a sharp fall in sale turnover (-3.9 per cent) compared to the previous month's record high, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday.

It was also much worse than expected, given Reuters-polled economists were only expecting a slight drop (-0.2 per cent).

"This is the first monthly fall in retail turnover for 2022, following 11 consecutive monthly rises," Ben Dorber, the ABS head of retail statistics, said.

RBA to keep lifting rates

"Retail businesses reported that many consumers had responded to these pressures by doing more Christmas shopping in November to take advantage of heavy promotional activity and discounting as part of the Black Friday sales event."