Last month saw shop prices grow at the fastest rate in more than a decade on the back of rapidly accelerating food inflation, new figures have found. Industry experts added that the situation for consumers would get “worse before it gets better” as prices keep rising alongside other household bills.
The latest BRC-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index revealed retail price inflation of 2.8 per cent in May, the highest figure since July 2011. It said this accelerated from a 2.7 per cent rise in April as rapidly rising food prices offset discounting and promotions in clothing and homeware.
“Retail prices edged up further as commodity, energy and transport costs continued to climb,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium. “It is likely to get worse before it gets better for consumers with prices continuing to rise and a further jump in energy costs coming in October.”
