UK shop prices fall year on year for first time since cost of living crisis began

The BRC said retailers were ‘discounting heavily to shift their summer stock, particularly for fashion and household goods’. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

UK shop prices have dropped for the first time since the cost of living crisis began nearly three years ago, as food inflation eased and retailers offered discounts on clothes and household goods to shift unsold summer stock.

New data showed prices were down 0.3% in the first week of August, compared with the same period last year. That compares to a 0.2% rise in July, and the three-month average of 0%.