UK SHOPPERS ARE PAYING RECORD 10.6% MORE FOR FOOD THAN A YEAR AGO, DATA SHOWS

Wed 28 September 2022:

The war in Ukraine has driven up the cost of commodities like animal feed, fertilizer, and vegetable oil, which has caused food price inflation to soar past last month’s 9.3 percent to 10.6 percent in the UK.

In September, overall shop price inflation increased to 5.7% from 5.1% in August, according to the British Retail Consortium-Nielson IQ index.

Fresh food products cost a record 12.1 per cent more than last year, up from 10.5 per cent in August. Inflation for cupboard staples, such as pasta and tinned tomatoes, reached a record 8.6 per cent, up from 7.8 per cent in the previous month. This was the fastest rate of increase ever recorded for the category.

Non-food inflation rose from 2.9 per cent in August to 3.3 per cent due to rising transport costs. Prices of fruits such as strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes fell owing to prolonged sunshine due to the summer drought.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, was quoted by Sky News as saying, “Retailers are battling huge cost pressures from the weak pound, rising energy bills and global commodity prices, high transport costs, a tight labour market and the cumulative burden of government-imposed costs.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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