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Shop price inflation in Britain jumped to 1.5% in January, as retailers passed on higher energy and national insurance (NI) costs to consumers.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said this year-on-year increase in inflation “defies expectations”, having risen from 0.7% growth in December.
That’s according to the trade association’s latest shop price monitor, with NielsenIQ (NIQ), which showed that the January inflation figure was also above a three-month average of 0.9%.
By category, food price inflation continued to see the highest rate of growth, increasing to 3.9% year-on-year in January. That was up from 3.3% growth in December and was above a three-month average of 3.4%.
Within this category, fresh food inflation climbed to 4.4% in the year to January, up from 3.8% in December and higher than the three-month average of 3.9%.
Ambient food inflation increased to 3.1% over the past year, against growth of 2.5% in December and above a three-month average of 2.6%.
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Meanwhile, non-food inflation rose 0.3% year-on-year in January, up from a decline of 0.6% in December and also higher than the three-month average of -0.3%.
Helen Dickinson, CEO of the BRC, said: “Any suggestion that inflation has peaked is simply not borne out by these figures.”
“Shop price inflation jumped this month due to high business energy costs and the hike to national insurance continuing to feed through to prices,” she said.
“Meat, fish and fruit were particularly affected, also reflecting weak supply and stronger demand, while non-food categories, including furniture, flooring, and health and beauty, all saw inflation rise.”
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NIQ, said: “Shoppers are always cautious about spending in January and this will not be helped by the continuation of inflation.”
“However, there are still savings to be made at the checkout as some non-food retailers are still on promotion and many food retailers continue to reduce prices on everyday items as a way to drive footfall.”
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week showed that UK inflation rose for the first time in five months in December. The UK consumer price index (CPI) rose to 3.4% in the year to December, up from 3.2% in November.
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