UK shop-price inflation slows as supermarket promotions spread

British shop-price inflation slowed to 0.9% in July, its weakest annual increase since December 2025, as supermarket promotions and seasonal markdowns helped restrain price rises, the British Retail Consortium said July 28.

The figure was based on prices collected from July 1 through July 7. It marked a decline from 1.2% in June, but it did not mean prices fell overall. Retail prices were still higher than a year earlier; they were simply rising more slowly.

Food inflation eased, but fresh food remained under pressure

Annual food inflation slowed to 2.2% in July from 2.4% in June, according to the BRC. Ambient-food inflation fell to 1.1% from 1.9%, while fresh-food inflation rose to 3.1%.

That split matters for shoppers. The overall food measure eased, but fresh food continued to record a higher annual inflation rate than the food category as a whole. Individual baskets can therefore feel more expensive than the headline figure suggests.

Non-food inflation fell to 0.2% from 0.6%. The BRC said retailers used summer promotions across food and other goods, including discounts on snacks and alcoholic drinks during the men’s soccer World Cup. Clothing and footwear retailers also marked down summer merchandise as they cleared seasonal stock.

Promotions helped hold down the measure

The promotional explanation comes from the BRC and was also reported by Reuters. It should not be read as proof that every shopper received the same discount or that lower promotional prices will last permanently.

The BRC said some electrical goods and health and beauty products faced higher inflation as chip prices and manufacturing costs rose. It also cited employment costs, packaging taxes, energy expenses and climate-related disruption as pressures facing retailers.

Those pressures did not prevent the July slowdown, but they show why a low inflation reading does not necessarily signal a broad reversal in retail costs.

Why the BRC figure differs from official CPI

The BRC shop-price monitor is not the same measure as the national consumer-price index. It tracks prices in retailers’ baskets during a defined collection period, while the Office for National Statistics’ CPI covers a broader range of household spending across goods and services.

The ONS said UK CPI inflation was 2.6% in June, down from 2.8% in May. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation was 1.7% in June, down from 2.2% in May.

The different rates reflect differences in coverage, weighting and timing. The BRC’s July figures capture a specific retail-price sample collected during the first week of the month, while the ONS measure includes wider household costs and is released on a separate schedule.

What shoppers should take from the figures

For households, the immediate message is mixed. Retail prices were not falling back to earlier levels, but the pace of annual increases slowed, and promotions may have reduced the cost of selected purchases during the measurement period.

Individual shopping baskets can still look very different from the headline number. Fresh food, household necessities and products affected by manufacturing costs may rise faster than the overall shop-price measure, while shoppers who used discounts may have seen smaller increases.

The next question is whether retailers continue using promotions through the rest of the summer and whether higher operating and production costs eventually feed into shelf prices. The July BRC result does not by itself forecast the next ONS inflation release.

Sources

• British Retail Consortium: July Shop Price Monitor
• Reuters: UK shop prices rise by least since December
• UK Office for National Statistics: Consumer price inflation, June 2026