BRC-NIELSEN IQ SHOP PRICE INDEX – December 2022
Period Covered: 01 – 07 December
2022
- Shop Price annual inflation decelerated to 7.3% in December,
down from 7.4% in November. This is above the 3-month average
rate of 7.1%. This leaves shop prices remaining near record
highs.
- Food inflation accelerated strongly to 13.3% in
December, up from 12.4% in November. This is above the 3-month
average rate of 12.5%. This is the highest inflation rate in the
food category on record.
- Non-Food inflation decelerated to 4.4% in December, down from
4.8% in November. This is above the 3-month average rate of 4.4%.
Inflation remains close to record highs in this category.
- Fresh Food inflation strongly accelerated in December to
15.0%, up from 14.3% in November. This is above the 3-month
average rate of 14.2%. This is the highest inflation rate in the
fresh food category on record.
- Ambient Food inflation accelerated to 11.0% in December, up
from 10.0% in November. This is above the 3-month average rate of
10.2%. This is the fastest rate of increase in the ambient food
category on record.
OVERALL SPI
FOOD
NON-FOOD
% Change
On last year
On last month
On last year
On last month
On last year
On last month
Dec-22
13.3
1.1
15.0
1.4
11.0
0.6
Nov-22
12.4
1.3
14.3
1.6
10.0
0.9
Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British
Retail Consortium, said:
“It was a challenging Christmas for many households across the
UK. Not only did the cold snap force people to spend more on
their energy bills, but the prices of many essential foods also
rose as reverberations from the war in Ukraine continued to keep
high the cost of animal feed, fertiliser and energy. Non-food
price rises eased as some retailers used discounting to shed
excess stock built up during the disruptions to supply chains,
meaning some customers were able to bag bargain gifts. The
combined impact was that price increases overall plateaued, with
the reduction in non-food inflation offsetting the higher food
prices."
“2023 will be another difficult year for consumers and businesses
as inflation shows no immediate signs of waning. Retailers will
continue to work hard to support their customers and keep prices
low. However, further high investment in prices may no longer be
viable once the Government’s energy bill support scheme for
business expires in April. Without the scheme, retailers could
see their energy bills rise by £7.5 billion. Government must
urgently provide clarity on what future support might look like
or else consumers might pay the price.”
Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight,
NielsenIQ, said:
“Consumer demand is likely to be weak in Q1 due to the impact of
energy price increases and for many, Christmas spending bills
starting to arrive. So the increase in food inflation is going to
put further pressure on household budgets and it’s unlikely that
there will be any improvement in the consumer mind-set around
personal finances in the near term. With shoppers having less
money to spend on discretionary retail having paid for their
essential groceries, there will be little to stimulate demand
across the non-food channels.”
