UK grocery price inflation falls at fastest rate on record, research finds

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UK grocery value inflation fell on the quickest tempo on file in December, in line with information from analysis firm Kantar, the most recent proof of a major retreat in value progress in Britain.

Grocery value annual inflation eased from 9.1 per cent in November to six.7 per cent in December, marking the quickest month-on-month drop that Kantar has recorded because it began monitoring costs in 2008.

The figures printed on Wednesday got here after British Retail Consortium numbers earlier this week confirmed December meals inflation easing to the identical charge, the bottom since June 2022.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and client perception at Kantar, attributed the decline to promotions being “central” to retailers’ technique.

He defined that almost one-third of all spending within the 4 weeks to Christmas Eve was made on objects with some form of supply, the best stage since December 2020.

Each units of knowledge pointed to the numerous easing of value stress on British customers after an inflationary upsurge lately that has hit poorest households hardest.

The most recent official information for total UK inflation printed final month confirmed a pointy fall to three.9 per cent in November, placing stress on the Financial institution of England to start chopping charges from a 15-year excessive of 5.25 per cent.

Meals inflation in November was 9.2 per cent, in line with figures from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics, lower than half its 45-year peak of 19.2 per cent in March. The ONS will launch December figures on January 17.

Meals and power costs had surged after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Decrease grocery inflation helped enhance transactions and spending final month, in line with Kantar. Britons made 488mn journeys to the supermarkets over the 4 weeks to December 24 — 12mn greater than the earlier yr and the biggest quantity at Christmas since 2019, it reported.

Cheaper supermarkets corresponding to Lidl and Aldi continued to be the fastest-growing grocers as they’ve been throughout most of the price of residing disaster, an indication of how customers are adapting to tighter budgets.

Kantar reported that the 2 discounters hit their highest-ever market shares for the Christmas interval.