UK grocery prices below 2015 levels
But prices remained lower than the previous year due to competition that has limited the impact of Brexit-related cost inflation.
A basket of 35 commonly bought grocery items cost £83.33 (€103.54) in December, mySupermarket.com said yesterday, up from £83.18 in November.
The rise was driven by higher prices for fresh items such as bananas, grapes and carrots, it said.
Overall, the basket was still nearly 3% cheaper than it was in December 2015, the company said, as Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s battle for shoppers.
Economists and retail experts expect inflation to creep into the UK market after last year’s vote to leave the EU caused a steep drop in the value of the British currency, making imported goods more expensive.
“Despite a rise in December, our Groceries Tracker Basket costs less in December compared to January and shows how the highly competitive price wars between retailers has helped protect shoppers from any subsequent rises caused by current affairs,” said mySupermarket chief executive officer Gilad Simhony in a statement.
The tracker covers nearly 5,000 products across supermarkets Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Lidl and Morrisons.
The sharp fall in the value of sterling since the UK voted to turn its back on the EU has led to forecasts that UK inflation will leap as much as 5% this year.
Some international makers of consumer electronics goods and business software have already announced large price rises for their products in Britain, to compensate from a loss in the value of sterling of their UK sales.
Sterling was the worst performer of major currencies, but has recently clawed back some losses as the UK economy defied forecasts of a slump.
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