Latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ confirms that inflation in the food and non-food sectors is easing, although only at a slow pace.
Overall shop prices rose 8.4% during the year to June, a slowdown from the 9% recorded the previous month.
Food inflation continued to ease from record highs earlier in the year. It was still up 14.6% but down from 15.4% in May as the leading supermarkets started to pass on lower commodity costs to consumers.
Fresh food inflation slowed to 15.7% in June, down from 17.2%, whilst ambient food inflation decelerated slightly to 13.0%, down from 13.1% in May.
Meanwhile, non-food inflation decreased to 5.4% in June, down from 5.8% the previous month.
BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickson noted that the slower pace of inflation in food was thanks to retailers cutting the price of everyday staples, including milk, cheese and eggs. “If the current situation continues, food inflation should drop to single digits later this year,” she said.
NIQ’s Head of Retailer and Business Insight, Mike Watkins, noted that the slowdown in food inflation would be welcome news for shoppers. “If global supply chain costs continue to fall, we may now be past the peak of price increases,” he said.
“However, with most households needing to save money, purchasing behaviour for the rest of this year is still likely to shift towards essential needs with discretionary consumption being deprioritised or delayed.”
