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.
