The climb in prices charged by shops and supermarkets in Britain accelerated again in the 12 months to September, hitting its highest since records began in 2005, the British Retail Consortium has said .
Prices rose by 5.7%, speeding up from 5.1% in the 12 months to August, led by an unprecedented 10.6% jump in food prices as the war in Ukraine inflated the costs of animal feed, fertiliser and vegetable oil, the BRC said.
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.”
