Proactive Investors - UK shop prices fell last month, with the steepest deflation in three years as non-food prices continued to drop but food prices rose.
The BRC-NielsenIQ index of shop prices showed September prices fell 0.6% versus a year ago, accelerating from deflation of 0.3% the previous month.
This was also below the three-month average rate of -0.3% and the lowest since August 2021.
Non-food price deflation hit 2.1% in September, with prices falling more sharply amid what the BRC said were big discounts and fierce competition among retailers.
This followed a 1.5% decline for non-food prices the month before and was the sharpest rate of deflation since March 2021.
Furniture and clothing showed the biggest drops in inflation as retailers tried to entice shoppers back, said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
Food inflation picked up to 2.3% in September from 2.0% in August, which was attributed to poor harvests in key producing regions leading to higher prices for cooking oils and products containing sugar.
Food inflation was above the three-month average rate of 2.2%, but the BRC and Nielsen said this rate of inflation remained around its lowest rate since November 2021.
Fresh food inflation was the reason for the acceleration, rising to 1.5% from 1.0% the month before, with ambient food inflation decelerating to 3.3% in September from 3.4% in August.
"September was a good month for bargain hunters as big discounts and fierce competition pushed shop prices further into deflation," said Dickinson.
"Shop price inflation is now at its lowest level in over three years, with monthly prices dropping in seven of the last nine months."
She said ongoing geopolitical tensions, climate change and government-imposed regulatory costs could all reverse the easing price trend.
Ahead of the new UK government's first Budget at the end of the month, Dickinson said the retail sector "faces a disproportionate tax burden compared to other industries" and she called for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to "take decisive action" and introduce a 20% adjustment to rates bills for all retail properties "to level the playing field...protecting jobs and unlocking investment".
Analyst Clive Black said the overall deflation trend "may be a source of comfort" for the Bank of England, "but there is something for everyone here ahead of the much-vaunted Reeves Budget later this month".
"We sense that UK retail October may be a little unnecessarily muted ahead of that event".