BRC: Shop Prices Continue To Rise

The BRC has published shop price inflation data for September.

• Shop Price annual inflation accelerated to 5.7% in September, up from 5.1% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 5.1%. This marks another record for shop price inflation since this index started in 2005.
  
  
• Food inflation accelerated strongly to 10.6% in September, up from 9.3%. This is above the 3-month average rate of 9.1%. This is the highest rate of inflation in the food category on record.
  
  
• Non-Food inflation accelerated to 3.3% in September, up from 2.9% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 3.1%. Inflation remains rose to a fresh series’ high in this category.
  
  
• Fresh Food inflation strongly accelerated in September to 12.1%, up from 10.5% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 10.4%. This is the highest inflation rate in the fresh food category on record.
  
  
• Ambient Food inflation accelerated to 8.6% in September, up from 7.8% in August. This is above the 3-month average rate of 7.4%. This is the fastest rate of increase in the ambient food category on record.

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “With costs mounting across the board, September saw shop price inflation hit yet another high. The war in Ukraine continued to drive up the price of animal feed, fertiliser and vegetable oil, causing fresh food inflation to rise significantly over the past few months, particularly for products such as margarine. While the summer drought diminished some harvests, other produce benefitted from the prolonged sunshine, helping to bring down prices for fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes. Non-food inflation also rose, largely driven by DIY, gardening and hardware products which, as heavier items, have been harder hit by rising transport costs.”

“Retailers are battling huge cost pressures from the weak pound, rising energy bills and global commodity prices, high transport costs, a tight labour market and the cumulative burden of government-imposed costs. And, with business rates set to jump by 10% next April, squeezed retailers face an additional £800m in unaffordable tax rises. Government must urgently freeze the business rates multiplier to give retailers more scope to do more to help households.” 

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight, NielsenIQ, said: “With food and household energy prices continuing to rise, it’s no surprise that NielsenIQ data shows that 76% of consumers are saying they expect to be moderately or severely affected by the cost-of-living crisis over the next 3 months, up from 57% in the summer. So households will be looking for savings to help manage their personal finances this autumn and we expect shoppers to become more cautious about discretionary spend, adding to pressure in the retail sector.”

Source : BRC

Image : sergeyryzhov / iStockphoto.com (517010420)

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.