Food inflation in the UK has continued to slow since April but is still up nearly 15% since the start of the year, new retail figures have shown.
According to the latest report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ, there was a 14.6% increase in food prices in the year up to June.
Overall shop prices rose 8.4% over the year to June, compared with the 9% recorded in the year up to May – below the three month average rate of 8.7%.
Additionally, fresh food inflation slowed further to 15.7% this month – down from 17.2% in May – which is significantly below the three month average rate of 16.8%.
Ambient Food inflation also decelerated slightly to 13% in June, down from 13.1% last month.
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Chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickinson, OBE, said: “Households up and down the country will welcome the easing of shop price inflation in June.
“Food inflation slowed for the second consecutive month, particularly for fresh products, as retailers cut the price of many staples including milk, cheese and eggs.
“Clothing and electrical goods also saw falling prices, helping customers to pick up a bargain ahead of the summer holidays.
“If the current situation continues, food inflation should drop to single digits later this year. However, it is imperative that government does not hamper this progress by introducing costly new policies.”
Dickinson referenced reforms to the packaging Levy (Extended Producer Responsibility) and a new deposit return scheme, which “could create an additional £4bn burden on retailers and their customers”.
“Along with a rise in business rates, and the introduction of border controls in October, these policies could hinder the government’s efforts to combat inflation,” she said.
Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, Mike Watkins, commented: “Whilst prices are still higher than a year ago, the slowdown in food inflation is welcome news for shoppers, helped by supermarkets lowering prices of some staple goods.
“And if global supply chain costs continue to fall, we may now be past the peak of price increases.”
Watkins concluded: “However, with most households needing to save money, purchasing behaviour for the rest of this year is still likely to shift towards essential needs with discretionary consumption being deprioritised or delayed.”
It comes as grocery price inflation fell for the third consecutive month to the lowest level since 2022, according to data from Kantar.
