Rising energy costs and Russia’s war in Ukraine have triggered the sharpest rise in UK retail prices in more than a decade. In April, prices climbed 2.7 percent year-on-year, the highest since September 2011. This was the result of the monthly index published on Wednesday by the retail association BRC and the market research institute Nielsen IQ. In March the plus was 2.1 percent.
Food prices increased by 3.5 percent. The prices for so-called non-food items, especially furniture, electronics and books, climbed by 2.2 percent. This was the largest increase since records began in 2006.
The head of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Helen Dickinson, announced that retailers are doing everything possible to keep prices down. Nevertheless, consumers would have to be prepared for further increases in costs. Recently, some large supermarket chains had reduced the prices of staple foods.
The cost increases are affecting millions of people in the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently conceded that the government could do more to relieve consumers. Rising energy prices and higher taxes are a key issue in local elections in many British communities this Thursday. Should the ruling Conservatives lose significantly, this could cost Johnson his office. (dpa)