LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) – British grocery inflation eased to 3.8% in the four weeks to April 19 from 4.3% in the previous period, data from Worldpanel by Numerator showed on Tuesday, indicating that the impact from the Iran war had not hit supermarket shelves yet.
The data showed UK grocery sales increased 0.9% in the four-week period year-on-year, although shoppers were seeking out deals.
The Worldpanel data is the most up-to-date snapshot of UK consumer behaviour and provides an early indication of pricing pressures in April ahead of official UK data on May 20.
It said prices were rising fastest in markets such as medicines and treatments and fresh unprocessed meat and fish, and falling fastest in butter and spreads, sugar confectionery and household paper.
Worldpanel said the impact of the Middle East conflict has not yet filtered through to supermarket shelves, while shoppers are increasingly seeking out deals. It noted spending on promoted items over the four weeks rose 7.8% year-on-year.
Separate data on Tuesday from the British Retail Consortium showed overall shop price inflation decreased to 1.0% in April, helped by Easter discounts.
Britain’s official rate of headline inflation rose to 3.3% in March.
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)
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