Shop price inflation slowed to 0.9% in July, down from 1.2% in June, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NIQ data. The decline offers some relief to households, though industry figures warn of mounting pressures ahead.
July Inflation Figures
Non-food inflation fell to 0.2% from 0.6% in June, while food price inflation eased to 2.2% from 2.4%. However, fresh food inflation rose to 3.1% compared with 2.8% the previous month.
Shoppers benefited from promotions on snacks and alcoholic drinks during the football World Cup, and clothing and footwear retailers offered significant discounts as they cleared summer stock. In contrast, categories such as electricals and health and beauty experienced higher inflation due to rising chip prices and manufacturing costs.
Retailer Responses and Future Warnings
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Good news for households in July as shop price inflation slowed. Retailers competed hard to limit price rises, with a wave of summer promotions across food and other goods.”
She added: “While today’s figures are encouraging, growing cost pressures remain on the horizon. Higher employment costs and packaging taxes, global instability and climate-related disruption all make it more expensive to get products onto shelves.”
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NIQ, said: “Shop price inflation remains lower than a year ago, which will help shoppers as they manage other increases in household spend, such as energy and fuel. So we can expect promotions to continue to be an important part of driving demand for the rest of the summer.”
