UK inflation rate ‘back to normal’ in shops BRC says amid retail discounts drive

The UK inflation rate for stores is now at its lowest level since November 2021, the British Retail Consortium has said. But food prices have been continuing to climb.

A trader wraps up a vegetable for a customer (image: Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Shop price inflation has slowed again, the British Retail Consortium has found (image: Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The UK inflation rate in shops has gone ‘back to normal’, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said, thanks to discounting on furniture and electricals.

The overall annual rate of price hikes in UK stores, including high street shops and supermarkets, fell to 0.6% in May, the retailer trade body’s monthly shop price index found. This was down slightly on the 0.8% it recorded in April and is the slowest rate of growth the BRC has recorded since November 2021.

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Henry Sandercock has spent more than eight years as a journalist covering a wide variety of beats. Having studied for an MA in journalism at the University of Kent, he started his career in the garden of England as a reporter for local TV channel KMTV.

Henry then worked at the BBC for three years as a radio producer - mostly on BBC Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine, but also on major BBC Radio 4 programmes like The World at One, PM and Broadcasting House. Switching to print media, he covered fresh foods for respected magazine The Grocer for two years.

After moving to NationalWorld.com - a national news site run by the publisher of The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post - Henry began reporting on the cost of living crisis, becoming the title’s money editor in early 2023. He covered everything from the energy crisis to scams, and inflation. He also has bylines in MoneyWeek.