Food inflation falls to five month low in February
Food price inflation dropped to a five month low in February according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium.
The BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index for February 2013 shows that while overall shop price inflation rose to 1.1% from January’s three-year low of 0.6%, food inflation fell to 3.5% from 4% in January.
Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said: “Food inflation has fallen to a five month low, a sign that past falls in commodities such as wheat and corn are continuing to filter through. There are still pressures in the pipeline, especially from recent rises in the price of animal feed, but barring any major shocks I would expect food inflation to stay fairly steady in the medium term.”
Non-food prices fell 0.4% in February compared with a 1.4% fall in January which the BRC said was to be expected after the deep discounting of the post-Christmas sales.
Dickinson added: “The overall inflation figure is up, another sign that discounting is less extensive than it was in January. But it’s still well below the Consumer Price Index of 2.7% – a reflection that, with consumer confidence still weak, retailers continue to do all they can to offer the best possible value.”
