UK grocery inflation increases for third month in November

British shoppers faced increased pressure on their budgets in November after grocery price inflation edged higher for the third month in a row, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2

By: cyprus-mail.com

Dec 13 2024
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UK grocery inflation increases

British shoppers faced increased pressure on their budgets in November after grocery price inflation edged higher for the third month in a row, industry data showed on Tuesday.

Market researcher Kantar said annual grocery price inflation was 2.6 per cent in the four weeks to Dec. 1, up from 2.3 per cent in the previous four-week period.

Prices are rising fastest in products such as toothbrushes, chilled smoothies and juices and fragrances, and falling fastest in items like household paper products and dog food, it said.

UK supermarkets have warned that tax rises in the Labour government’s first budget in October, together with another rise in the national minimum wage, will be inflationary.

Official data published last month showed overall UK inflation jumped to 2.3 per cent in October. Data for November will be published Dec. 18.

Kantar said Britons will have to pay more for their traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, with the average cost for four rising to 32.57 pounds ($41.51), up 6.5 per cent from 2023.

Its data showed UK grocery sales increased 2.5 per cent over the four weeks to Dec. 1 year-on-year, and the researcher forecast supermarket sales would exceed 13 billion pounds over the four weeks of December for the first time.

Kantar said sales at market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) rose 5.2 per cent over the 12 weeks to Dec. 1, giving it a grocery market share of 28.1 per cent, its highest since December 2017. Tesco shares were up 1.2 per cent.

Sales at No. 2 Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) were up 4.7 per cent, and were up 2.1 per cent at No. 4 Aldi and up 2 per cent at No. 5 Morrisons.

However, No. 3 Asda was again the industry laggard with sales down 5.6 per cent and a 1.1 percentage point loss of market share over the year, underlining the tough job facing Allan Leighton, who recently returned to the group as executive chairman.

Kantar said online supermarket Ocado (OCDO.L) was the fastest growing grocer with sales up 8.7 per cent, while discounter Lidl was the fastest growing bricks-and-mortar grocer with sales up 6.6 per cent.

The researcher noted that Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) was also performing well though it was not included in its data.