Inflation in the United Kingdom has reached its highest level in over a year. The base rate has been stable at 3.4% for the year up to May. While general inflation has leveled off, food prices continue to increase at alarming rates. They have been up for three consecutive months already. Food inflation as of May is up to 4.4%, the highest it’s been since last February of 2022.
The overall rate of price increases in May was unchanged from April, a sign of continued inflationary pressure on consumers. As food prices soared, the savings from cheaper travel costs offered welcome relief. Yet still, this relief was not sufficient to make up for the widespread double-digit increases we experienced on many core commodities, including chocolate.
In May, the price of chocolate in the UK hit a record high. It’s the fastest increase on record, since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began monitoring these numbers in 2016. In even more alarming news, the ONS recently announced that chocolate went up 17.7% in the year to May. This spike is due to a combination of factors. Production was heavily affected by adverse weather conditions, especially in major cocoa harvesting areas such as Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Earlier in the year, chocolate inventories decreased to record lows, making the matter worse and raising prices even more. Ruth Gregory, deputy chief economist at Capital Economics, noted that rising food prices might stem from businesses transferring recent increases in employer National Insurance payments onto consumers.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced,
“This government is investing in Britain’s renewal to make working people better off.”
This week saw Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride say that the new inflation figures were deeply worrying for families. Stride focused on Labour’s fiscal policies as the primary reason for economic woes. He claimed that these policies are crippling growth and increasing costs for everyday essentials.
The confluence of high inflation rates and rising food prices underscores the ongoing challenges faced by consumers in the UK. As households dig their way out from under these financial shocks, the effects of such economic currents will be seen and heard for a long time.