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Shop prices declined for the 22nd consecutive month in February, driven mainly by the falling prices of non-food items such as clothing and electrical goods.
Figures released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and research body Nielsen show that shop price deflation accelerated to 1.7% in February, after falling 1.3% in January.
Deflation was largely driven by a 2.5% fall in non-food items, compared with a 1.8% decline in January.
Food prices also fell for the second month in a row by 0.4%, with products such as milk, cheese, eggs and vegetables all cheaper than a year ago.
Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at Nielsen, said: “Since the start of the year, we have seen some very competitive pricing across both the food and non-food channels and this is helping to keep prices low for shoppers.
“With many commodity prices still falling, if shoppers can be encouraged to spend more, then retailers will be looking for volume sales increases over the next few months.”
