UK shop price inflation eases, providing relief for consumers

Inflationary pressures seem to be easing for retailers, offering some respite for consumers, as shop price annual inflation in the UK softened to 0.8 percent in April, a decline from the 1.3 percent recorded in March.

Shop Index data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ marks the lowest shop price annual growth since December 2021. Notably, non-food items, which includes clothing, dipped into deflation territory at -0.6 percent in April, down from 0.2 percent in the previous month, underscoring a broader trend of easing inflationary pressures across various sectors.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “One year on from the peak, shop price inflation levels are showing signs of normalising, providing relief to households. Both food and non-food have seen shop inflation rates ease to more manageable levels. In April, non-food prices fell, especially in clothing and footwear, where retailers ramped up promotions to encourage consumer spend. Food inflation slowed for the 12thconsecutive month, as fresh products such as butter, fish and fruits, continued to fall in price due to easing input costs and intense competition between grocers.” “While consumers will welcome the lower shop price inflation, geopolitical tensions and the knock-on impact on commodity prices, like oil, pose a threat to future price stability. Retailers will continue to do all they can to keep prices down, but Government has a role to play with pro-growth policies that allow businesses to invest in the customer offer.”

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, said: “Whilst topline retail growth has slowed since in recent weeks as food inflation has fallen, it is good news for shoppers that the cost of their grocery shop is starting to stabilise and that the prices of many non-food goods are now cheaper than a year ago. To help shoppers manage household budgets, retailers continue to promote and this provides further savings and we expect this to continue to help drive overall demand.”