The British Retail Consortium has revealed that as of August, British shop prices have declined for the 28th consecutive month.

Shop prices fell 1.4% year-on-year this August – the same rate of decrease as July. This was despite predictions from economists that the month would experience only a 0.2% drop.

The decline of non-food prices hastened to 2.4% in August after a 2.3% decrease in July. Conversely, food price inflation rose to 0.2% in August from 0.1% in the previous month.

BBC Director General, Helen Dickinson, commented: “A relatively benign economic environment and a fiercely competitive market will see retailers continue to respond to their customers with prices and promotions to maintain the market share.”

With the latest results, the UK consumer price index has turned to positive, after six months of remaining around zero.