Shop Price annual inflation decelerated further to 6.9% in August, down from 7.6% in July, according to BRC-Nielsen IQ's latest Shop Price Index.
This was below the three-month average rate of 7.7%, and left shop price growth at its lowest since October 2022.
The change was driven by falling food inflation – non-food inflation remained unchanged at 4.7% (below the three-month average rate of 5.0%).
Helen Dickinson, OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), says: “Better news for consumers, as shop price inflation in August eased to its lowest level since October 2022. This was driven by falling food inflation, particularly for products such as meat, potatoes and some cooking oils. These figures would have been lower still had the Government not increased alcohol duties earlier this month.
"Across non-food categories, toiletries and cosmetics saw price growth ease as many key components became cheaper, meanwhile inflation for clothing and footwear increased as retailers unwound their extensive summer sales."
