Food and clothing helps drive inflation down
Responding to the latest CPI inflation figures which show headline inflation falling to 3.4% and food inflation falling 1.9 percentage points to 5.0%, Kris Hamer, director of insight of the British Retail Consortium, said: “After a rocky start to 2024, inflation is once again on its way down. February’s figures were driven by falls in food and clothing and footwear as well as cheaper energy prices. Food inflation fell once again, to its lowest rate since January 2022, as retailers continue to deliver the best service to their customers and communities. Households benefited from falling prices of fish, crisps and jam.
“While today’s inflation figures will be good news for consumers, government must not be complacent. Significant costs on the horizon may put renewed pressure on overall inflation in the near future; these include a 6.7% rise in business rates, and reforms to the packaging levy and electrical takeback schemes, all in the context of the biggest rise to NLW on record. This will limit investment and drive up costs at a time when many families are still facing a higher cost of living.”
