The multinational consumer goods company, Unilever, have released sales figures for the Christmas period, showing a growth of 2.2% in the quarter. This was slightly below the 2.8% forecasted by many analysts, in part due to the slowdown of economic growth in Brazil and the demonetization of India. It also marks a slowing on the 3.2% growth in the third quarter and 4.7% growth in the first half of the year. The total sales growth for the year for the company was 3.7%, however this too was slightly down on the predicted 3.9%. The chief executive officer of Unilever, Paul Polman, suggested that the downturn can in part be attributed to the volatile geopolitical climate.