BRC figures show shop price inflation fell to 1.7% in December
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen have shown that overall shop price inflation fell to 1.7% in December from 2.0% in November.
While food inflation rose to 4.2% from 4.0% in November, non-food inflation fell to a two year low of 0.3% from 0.8% in November.
Stephen Robertson, BRC director general, said: “This is a good bit of New Year news for customers. Even before the impact of last January’s VAT rise comes out of the year-on-year comparisons, shop price inflation has reached a 16 month low of 1.7%. This is being driven by price cuts in electricals, clothing and footwear where many items are now cheaper than they were at this time last year.
He added: “The Government’s official measure of inflation’s running at nearly 5% as businesses and householders’ battle with soaring utility and fuel bills. In this climate, retailers deserve credit for keeping costs down.”
