Food prices up 5.1 per cent in last month as pressure mounts on shopper

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Shop price annual inflation stayed flat at 4.3 per cent in December, remaining at the lowest level growth seen since June 2022.
Shop price annual inflation stayed flat at 4.3 per cent in December, remaining at the lowest level growth seen since June 2022. (Getty Images)

Supermarkets across the UK hiked prices by 5.1 per cent in the 12 months to August, according to fresh data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Food prices jumped 9.3 per cent after a seven per cent hike in July, with food like milk and margarine soaring amid war in Ukraine.

“. The war in Ukraine, and consequent rise in the price of animal feed, fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils continued to push up food prices,” said Chief Executive of the BRC Helen Dickinson. “Fresh food inflation in particular, surged to its highest level since 2008, and products such as milk, margarine and crisps saw the biggest rises”.

She added that the rise in shop prices was playing into wider UK inflation, which some analysts are predicting could hit 18 per cent in 2023.

Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight at NielsenIQ, which helps produce the index, said food inflation to be with us for at least another 6 months.

He added: “With further falls in disposable incomes coming this autumn as energy costs rocket again, retail spend will come under pressure in the all-important final quarter of the year.”