Food price inflation slows as world commodities spike ends
PRICE pressures on consumers eased in April as food price inflation slowed sharply and non-food prices fell for the third consecutive month, industry data showed today.
Food prices were 4.3 per cent higher than in the same month of 2011, down from the 5.4 per cent rise recorded in March, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Compared with March, prices only rose 0.1 per cent, a sharp slowdown from the 0.6 per cent rise from February to March.
The industry group pointed to falling commodities prices as the reason for the slowdown – corn prices fell 17 per cent in the year, while coffee dropped 39 per cent and sugar 10.1 per cent, though cattle rose 1.8 per cent and soyabeans 5.1 per cent.
Meanwhile non-food prices fell 0.5 per cent in the year to April, led by a 5.4 per cent fall in clothing prices and a 3.7 per cent drop in electrical goods.
“After last week’s official return to recession, these figures give customers some reasons to be cheerful,” said the BRC’s Stephen Robertson.