National insurance hike and energy bills behind food price rise, say UK retailers

Latest BRC figures show year-on-year rate of increase was 3.9% in January, up from 3.3% the month before

Retailers have blamed rising energy bills and the chancellor Rachel Reeves's hike in employers' national insurance contributions for a jump in food prices, as suppliers and supermarkets struggle to absorb higher costs.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body for retailers, said prices across all goods in shops rose by 1.5% in January compared with the same month last year, up from a 0.7% rise in December and higher than the 0.7% increase economists had been expecting. It is also above the three-month average of 0.9%.