UK food prices at risk of deflation

London

BRITISH shops matched a record decline in the price cuts in October and food prices looked at risk of falling into deflation, a survey showed on Wednesday. The British Retail Consortium said that October retail prices were 1.9 per cent lower than a year ago, matching July's record decline and weaker than a 1.8 per cent fall in September.

Prices for food products edged up just 0.1 per cent, the smallest rise since the survey began almost eight years ago, compared with a 0.3 per cent increase in September. There was deep and widespread discounting across grocery stores.