UK shop price inflation decelerated to the lowest in more than a year in November as retailers lowered prices ahead of Christmas, the British Retail Consortium said Tuesday.
The shop price index rose 4.3 percent on a yearly basis in November, slower than the 5.2 percent increase in October. This was the weakest since June 2022 and marked the sixth consecutive slowdown in growth.
Both food and non-food inflation softened in November. Food prices posted an annual increase of 7.8 percent, weaker than October's 8.8 percent increase.
Likewise, non-food inflation eased to 2.5 percent from 3.4 percent in October.
Food inflation slowed as lower domestic energy prices reduced overall input costs, particularly for dairy products," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.
"Ambient food inflation slowed but remained higher than fresh food due to a larger proportion of goods being imported to the UK and impacted by the weak pound," Dickinson added.
"With the recent slow-down in consumer spending, many non-food retailers will have been reliant on Black Friday to kick starts sales to avoid discounting in December, whereas food retailers will be optimistic that footfall will increase as inflation slows and shoppers get into a festive mood," said Mike Watkins, head of Retailer and Business Insight, NielsenIQ, said.
