By Inflation at highest rate in 30 years, new data reveals
Shop prices across the UK almost doubled in January with inflation at its highest rate in 30 years, new data suggests.
Shoppers faced the highest price rises in almost a decade last month.
Inflation in the UK reportedly rose by a staggering 5.4 percent in the 12 months to December 2021, the highest rate in three decades.
Figures from the BRC-NielsenIQ price index revealed that shop price inflation rose by 0.8 percent in December 2021 and 1.5 percent in January 2022.
They measured rates from retailers across the UK in the first week of January, examining price changes in 500 commonly bought items.
Many vulnerable families have been expressing their struggles with the rise in inflation and the cost of living, as well as in fuel prices and energy bills.
According to the BBC, Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “January saw shop price inflation nearly double, driven by a sharp rise in non-food inflation.
“In particular, furniture and flooring saw exceptionally high demand leading to increased prices as the rising oil costs made shipping more expensive.”
Alex Stephens, finance director for Timco, told BBC Radio 4: “Back then, the cost of shipping as a percentage of an overall product might have been low, a single-digit percent, now I would say it’s somewhere between 20 percent and 50 percent of the pricing.
“We are currently bringing in containers from the Far East where the shipping cost is pretty much the same as the cost of the materials that we are bringing in.”
They added: “To be honest, nothing has gotten any better. If anything, things at the moment are getting worse.”
Staff shortages caused by the Covid pandemic have also affected price rises to compensate for the rise in staff wages.
Talking on the recent inflation, Helen Dickinson said: “Food prices continue to rise, especially domestic produce which have been [hit] by poor harvests, labour shortages, and rising global food prices.”
She added that it “would be impossible to protect consumers from any future rises” in the cost of living.
(Image: Viki Mohamad)
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