UK shop prices rose 1.4% from a year earlier in September, after a 1.5% rise in August. Food price growth eased to 2.5%, while non-food price growth slowed to 0.8%. The survey covered prices collected in the first week of September, so it describes store prices in that window rather than the broader official consumer inflation rate.
Economics & Markets··Evening
Annual shop price growth dips to 1.4%
The British Retail Consortium and retail-data company NIQ measured a 1.4% annual rise in UK shop prices for September, down from 1.5% in August. Reuters also reported the slowdown in the consortium’s measure. The underlying prices were collected from September 1 to 7, making this a snapshot of that week’s retail shelves rather than the broader official consumer price index. The September reading was still above the measure’s three-month average of 1.3%, and the overall shop-price level rose 0.1% from the preceding month.[1], [2]
Food and non-food rates both ease
Annual food price growth slowed from 2.8% in August to 2.5% in September, matching its three-month average. Non-food growth eased from 0.9% to 0.8%, although that remained above its own three-month average of 0.6%. Within food, the fresh category declined from a 3.0% annual rate to 2.6%; products with a longer shelf life eased from 2.5% to 2.2%. These are changes in the pace of annual price increases, not an across-the-board fall in food prices. On a monthly basis, however, food prices in the survey fell 0.2%.[1]
Promotions temper some prices amid cost pressure
Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson linked lower meat and dairy prices partly to competition and store promotions. She associated higher fruit prices to poor European harvests and elevated chocolate and confectionery prices to global commodity costs. Back-to-school discounts affected books, stationery, footwear and electrical goods, she said. Those are the trade group’s explanations for individual price movements, rather than independently established explanations for the whole index. Non-food prices rose 0.2% from August within the survey, even as their annual growth rate eased.[1]
