LONDON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Britain's shop price inflation rose to a two-year high in August as higher energy, input and commodity costs fed through prices, data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed Tuesday.
Shop prices rose 1.5 percent year-on-year in August, accelerating from 0.9 percent in July, according to the BRC.
Food inflation accelerated to 2.8 percent from 2.2 percent in July, while non-food rose to 0.9 percent from 0.2 percent.
"The impact of higher energy, input and commodity costs is beginning to filter through into prices, particularly for ambient foods which are typically imported and processed," said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC.
"In non-food, electrical prices rose amid the ongoing AI boom, which is forcing up the price of memory chips and storage," she said.
Dickinson said the months ahead will remain challenging for households, as rising bills put further pressure on budgets and retailers faced persistently high operating costs that limited their ability to absorb further increases without impacting investment, jobs and prices.
She called on the government to address business costs, including business rates, packaging costs and employment taxes, to support growth and help contain the cost of living.
