Retailers warn of rising costs.
UK Shop Price Inflation Eases to 1.4% Amid Warnings Over Rising Business Costs
Anonymous
UK shop-price inflation eased to 1.4% in September from 1.5% in August, with food inflation slowing to 2.5% and non-food inflation to 0.8%. Retail competition, promotions and discounting helped restrain prices, including meat, dairy and back-to-school goods, while poor European harvests raised fruit prices and high commodity costs kept chocolate and confectionery expensive. The British Retail Consortium warned that retailers are absorbing rising energy, employment and other business costs, with higher business rates due in April adding pressure. Retailers may have limited room to absorb further increases, risking higher prices for consumers as households tighten budgets.
Key Points
1
The slowdown differed by food category: fresh-food inflation eased to 2.6% from 3.0%, while ambient-food inflation fell to 2.2% from 2.5%.
2
The BRC urged the chancellor to freeze the forthcoming business-rates rise and remove shops from the business-rates surtax, arguing that doing so could help prevent costs being passed on to consumers.
3
The September shop-price figures covered prices recorded from September 1 to 7; the 1.4% annual rise was still above the three-month average of 1.3%.
4
Separate from shop prices, UK headline CPI inflation reached 3.1% in August and was forecast to exceed 4% in early 2027, with the article attributing the expected increase to higher energy prices linked to the Iran war.
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