Food inflation is at its lowest since September 2022, new data reveals.
The BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index (SPI) shows food inflation decelerated to 11.5% in August, down from 13.4% in July, the fourth consecutive deceleration in the food category.
Fresh food inflation slowed further in August to 11.6%, down from 14.3% in July, and is at its lowest since August 2022.
Ambient food inflation decelerated to 11.3% in August – down from 12.3% in July – the lowest since January 2023.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “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.”
Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, added: “The unpredictable weather of recent weeks has dampened consumer demand with some high street retailers increasing promotional activity and food retailers continuing to extend price cuts, as the inflationary pressure coming from supply chains continues to lessen.
“Looking ahead, a NIQ survey shows that 60% of households expect to be severely or moderately impacted by rising household costs in the coming months so once back from summer holidays, we expect consumers to remain cautious about discretionary spend even as inflation decelerates.”
Overall shop price annual inflation decelerated further to 6.9% in August, down from 7.6% in July.
