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UK food inflation has reached an 11-month high as elements like bread, meat and fish become more expensive at a time of higher costs for retail sellers, showed industry data on Tuesday.
Food prices increased by an annual rate of 2.6 percent in April, from 2.4 percent in March and the fastest pace since May last year, according to the British Retail Consortium.
Trade body figures come ahead of official inflation data for April 21 May. Both data series reported a receipt of increasing food prices earlier this year compared to most of 2024, reflecting higher prices of wholesale foods and stronger internal prices.
Brc chief Helen Dickinson said the prices of daily essences, including bread, meat and fish, all increased between March and April – a period when retailers faced “a mountain of new employment costs” as national insurance contributions and minimum wages both increased.
“The days of store price deflation appear counted while food inflation rose to the highest level to 11 months, and non-food deflation was significantly relieved,” she added.
General store pricing decreased 0.1 percent in April compared to the same month last year, the smallest shrinkage since the summer 2024, when prices stopped to rise, according to Brc.
Since Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her autumn budget to determine higher taxes for employers, who come into force this month, numerous business surveys have shown about companies planning to reduce the calculation and raise prices as compensatory measures.
Last month, the Bank of England said food inflation had increased more than expected at the beginning of the year. Alongside external shocks, “it was possible that internal factors, such as labor costs,” increased growth, the Central Bank added.
Food inflation is far below the double level reached in 2023, when the full -scale Russian occupation in Ukraine led many goods to raise the price. But the growth in April will hit even poorer families, as they spend a larger portion of their income on essential things.
Non-food products were still in deflation, priceing at 1.4 percent-a shrinking softer than 1.9 percent recorded in March and lower decline in nine months.
But fresh food inflation rose to 1.8 percent in April compared to a year earlier, against 1.4 percent growth in March and above 3-month average of 1.5 percent, Brc said.
Ambient feed prices, which can be stored at room temperature, increased by an annual rate of 3.7 percent, unchanged from last month and above a three-month average of 3.4 percent.
Mike Watkins, the retailer’s manager and the business penetration in Nielseniq, who compiles the data with the Brc, said buyers are continuing to “benefit from the lowest inflation of store prices a year ago, but prices are slowly rising in supply chains, so retailers will see ways to mitigate this”.
