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Industry data showed on Tuesday that food inflation in the UK reached 11 months, as foodstuffs such as bread, meat and fish became more expensive in a time higher than retail costs.
Food prices increased by an annual rate of 2.6 percent in April, an increase of 2.4 percent in March and the fastest pace since May last year, according to British retail union.
Trade Authority numbers come before the official inflation data for April 21. Both data series reported a selection in the growth of food prices at the beginning of this year compared to most of the year 2024, which reflects the high prices of food in bulk and stronger local prices.
Helen Dickenson, CEO of BRC, said that daily basics prices, including bread, meat and fish, all increased between March and April – a period faced by retailers “a mountain of new employment costs” as national insurance contributions to the employer and the minimum wage increased.
She added: “The days of the store’s shrinkage appear with a level with the high rate of inflation in the food to its highest level in 11 months, and reduce non -food contraction significantly.”
The total store prices fell 0.1 percent in April compared to the same month last year, the smallest criticism since the summer of 2024, when the prices stopped, according to BRC.
Since Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her autumn budget to determine higher taxes on employers, which entered into force this month, many commercial surveys indicated to companies that plan to reduce the number of employees and raise prices such as compensation measures.
Last month, the Bank of England said that inflation increased more than expected at the beginning of the year. Besides external shocks, “local factors, such as labor costs” could have increased.
Food is much lower than two numbers reached in 2023, when Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine led many commodities to increase the price. But the height in April will continue to strike the poorest of the most difficult families, as it spends a greater share of their income on the basics.
The non-food products were still in a shrinkage, as they decreased in the price by 1.4 percent-which is more moderate than 1.9 percent recorded in March and the smallest decrease in nine months.
But fresh food inflation increased to 1.8 percent in April compared to the previous year, compared to growth of 1.4 percent in March and over an average of 3 months of 1.5 percent, BRC said.
The prices of the surrounding food, which can be stored at room temperature, increased by an annual rate of 3.7 percent, and did not change from the previous month and over average 3.4 percent.
Mike Watskins, head of retail and commercial insight in Nelsenic, who collects data with BRC, said shoppers continue to “take advantage of the decrease in store inflation a year ago, but the prices are slowly increasing through supply chains, so retail dealers will search for ways to reduce this as possible.”
