Inflation slowed by more than expected last month, driven by easing price rises of grocery staples such as pasta, milk and butter.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that food inflation fell to 9.2% in November, representing the eighth consecutive month of sustained slowdown.
While the price of products such as milk and yoghurt had already started to slow, new data from the ONS report showed that price rises on items such as bread – especially white and wholemeal slice loaves – is also abating.
Other grocery favourites that saw their rate of price rises ease in the year to November include cake, meat, milk, cheese and eggs and soft drinks.
The only exception came from fruit, where prices of strawberries rose higher than this time last year.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hailed the result as a sign that the UK was “back on the path to healthy, sustainable growth” after the UK’s overall rate of inflation fell to 3.9% in November.
He added: “With inflation more than halved, we are starting to remove inflationary pressures from the economy. We are back on the path to healthy, sustainable growth.”
Yet industry analysts point out that food is still 9% more expensive than it was 12 months ago, while the overall rate is still nearly twice the Bank of England’s 2% target.
