2021.07.2809:29:00UTC+00UK Shop Prices Fall In July: BRC

UK shop prices continued to decline in July, largely driven by a steep fall in non-food prices, the British Retail Consortium, said on Wednesday. The shop price index dropped 1.2 percent on a yearly basis in July, after easing 0.7 percent in June.

Annual prices in July fell at a faster rate than the previous month due to fierce competition between supermarkets keeping food prices low, and the steeper 1.8 percent fall in non-food prices.

Unfortunately for consumers, low prices may not last forever, Helen Dickinson, chief executive at BRC, said.

Recently, retailers have faced huge cost pressures as a result of rising costs of shipping, haulage and petrol as well as frictions from exiting the EU, said Dickinson. The additional paperwork and physical checks on EU imports in October and January may push prices up in the long-term.