UK Shop Prices Fall For First Time In Nearly 3 Years: BRC
August 27 2024 - 3:08AM
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UK shop prices declined for the first time in nearly three years
in August as deep discounting to shift summer stocks pushed down
non-food prices further, data released by the British Retail
Consortium showed on Tuesday.
The shop price index declined 0.3 percent year-on-year in
August, in contrast to the 0.2 percent increase in July. This was
the lowest rate since October 2021. The three-month average of the
shop price index remained flat.
The decline in non-food prices deepened to 1.5 percent from 0.9
percent in the preceding month. At the same time, food prices grew
at a slower pace of 2.0 percent after rising 2.3 percent in
July.
Fresh food inflation slowed further to 1.0 percent from 1.4
percent in July. Ambient food inflation weakened to 3.4 percent
from 3.6 percent.
Retailers discounted heavily to shift their summer stock,
particularly for fashion and household goods, BRC Chief Executive
Helen Dickinson said.
The latest discounting followed a difficult summer of trading
caused by poor weather and the continued cost of living crunch
impacting many families, Dickinson noted.
Dickinson said retailers will continue to work hard to keep
prices down and households will be happy to see that prices of some
goods have fallen into deflation. "The outlook for commodity prices
remains uncertain due to the impact of climate change on harvests
domestically and globally, as well as rising geopolitical
tensions," she said. "As a result, we could see renewed
inflationary pressures over the next year," Dickinson added.
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