{"id":6175,"date":"2025-01-28T12:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/?p=6175"},"modified":"2025-01-28T12:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T17:42:09","slug":"uk-shop-price-deflation-eases-to-0-7-in-january-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/?p=6175","title":{"rendered":"UK Shop Price Deflation Eases to 0.7% in January 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UK shop price deflation<\/strong> slowed to 0.7%<\/strong> in January 2025, improving from the 1% deflation<\/strong> recorded in December 2024, according to the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) \u2013 NielsenIQ Shop Price Index<\/strong>. The figure is also slightly better than the three-month average deflation rate of -0.8%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-Food Deflation Improves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Deflation in the non-food sector<\/strong> stood at -1.8%<\/strong> in January, improving from -2.4%<\/strong> in December and slightly better than the three-month average of -2%<\/strong>. The change suggests that January sales and post-holiday discounts helped retailers move excess inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food Inflation Slows Down<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Food prices remained inflationary<\/strong> but showed signs of slowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Overall food inflation:<\/strong> Dropped to 1.6%<\/strong> in January from 1.8%<\/strong> in December.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fresh food inflation:<\/strong> Declined to 0.9%<\/strong> from 1.2%<\/strong> in December, slightly below the three-month average of 1.1%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ambient food inflation:<\/strong> Fell to 2.5%<\/strong>, the lowest level since February 2022<\/strong>, down from 2.8%<\/strong> in December.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    BRC Warns of Rising Costs Ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Helen Dickinson<\/strong>, CEO of the British Retail Consortium<\/strong>, noted that while overall prices fell in January, the pace of deflation is slowing<\/strong>. She highlighted key trends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cExtensive January sales<\/strong> were good news for bargain hunters, especially in furniture and fashion<\/strong>. However, rising costs could soon lead to price increases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dickinson warned that several factors could drive prices higher:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • \u00a37 billion in new costs<\/strong> introduced in the last UK Budget.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Higher National Insurance Contributions (NICs)<\/strong> for employers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • An increase in the National Living Wage<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The introduction of a new packaging levy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Retailers Call for Government Support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Dickinson urged the government to ensure that proposed business rate reforms<\/strong> do not lead to higher costs for retailers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cWithout action, UK households will feel the effects.<\/strong> The government must ensure business rate changes do not push store costs even higher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      While January\u2019s retail price deflation provided short-term relief for consumers, economic pressures and regulatory costs could reverse this trend in the coming months. Retailers and shoppers alike are bracing for potential price increases across multiple categories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      UK shop price deflation slowed to 0.7% in January 2025, improving from the 1% deflation recorded in December 2024, according to the latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) \u2013 NielsenIQ Shop Price Index. The figure is also slightly better than the three-month average deflation rate of -0.8%. Non-Food Deflation Improves Deflation in the non-food sector stood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[3428,3430,3187,3432,3431,3424,3427,3425,3429,3426],"class_list":{"0":"post-6175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-british-retail-consortium","9":"tag-business-rates","10":"tag-food-inflation","11":"tag-inflation-forecast","12":"tag-national-insurance","13":"tag-national-living-wage","14":"tag-non-food-deflation","15":"tag-shop-price-deflation","16":"tag-uk-budget-2025","17":"tag-uk-retail-prices"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6177,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6175\/revisions\/6177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardianglobe.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}