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Shop price inflation fell for the sixth month in a row in November, hitting levels not seen since June 2022, figures showed Tuesday.
Annual inflation decelerated to 4.3% in November, down from 5.2% in October, according to BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index data. This is below the three-month average rate of 5.3%.
Non-food inflation cooled to 2.5% in November, down from 3.4% in October, below the three-month average rate of 3.5%.
Food inflation eased to 7.8% in November, down from 8.8% in October, below the three-month average rate of 8.9% and the seventh consecutive deceleration in the food category.
Fresh food inflation slowed further in November, to 6.7%, down from 8.3% in October. Ambient food inflation decelerated to 9.2% in November, down from 9.5% in October.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said prices cooled as ‘retailers competed fiercely to bring prices down for customers ahead of Christmas.’
‘Food inflation eased, thanks to lower domestic energy prices reducing overall input costs, particularly for dairy products,’ she pointed out.
She highlighted that health and beauty products saw price cuts as retailers rushed to shift stock before Christmas, while clothing prices increased as some retailers continued to hold off on promotional activity.
But she warned that retailers face new headwinds in 2024 from ‘government-imposed increases in business rates bills, to the hidden costs of complying with new regulations.’
‘Combining these with the biggest rise to the National Living Wage on record will likely stall or even reverse progress made thus far on bringing down inflation, particularly in food,’ she thinks.
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