Shop prices fall in December amid late Black Friday discounts

Non-food deflation at -2.4%

Shop price deflation reached 1% in December, up from 0.6% the previous month, according to the British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ Shop Price index.

The data, which covered the period between 1 and 7 December 2024, was just above the three-month average rate of -0.8%, while shop price annual growth was at its lowest in over three years, since August 2021. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, argued that the significant drop in prices came on the back of heavy discounts during Black Friday last year, "as [retailers] attempted to make up for weaker sales earlier in the year". 'Significant price pressures' ahead as retail faces £7bn of additional costs Non-food remained deflationary at -2.4% last month, lower than the -1.8...