By James Davey
LONDON (Reuters) – British grocery inflation edged down to 4.9% in the four weeks to September 7, according to data from Worldpanel by Numerator, offering only modest respite for shoppers still grappling with elevated food prices.
The figure, the most up-to-date snapshot of UK food inflation, compared with 5.0% in last month’s report.
Worldpanel said prices were rising fastest in markets such as chocolate, fresh meat and butter and were falling fastest in household paper, sugar confectionery and dog food.
Britain’s food retailers have said that higher employer taxes and regulatory costs as well as increased staff wages are adding to inflationary pressure from higher prices for commodities.
The British Retail Consortium, which represents Britain’s biggest retailers, predicts that food inflation will be up to 6% by the end of the year, putting more pressure on household budgets in the run up to Christmas.
The Bank of England has forecast it will hit 5.5% before Christmas and then fall back as global wholesale factors fade.
Overall UK inflation hit 3.8% in July, according to official data published last month, the highest among the G7 economies. Data for August will be published on Wednesday.
Worldpanel said industry leader Tesco won more market share than any other grocer in the 12 weeks to September 7, accounting for 28.4% of all sales, up 0.8 percentage points on the year. Its sales rose 7.7% – its highest rate of growth since December 2023.
Sales at number two player Sainsbury’s rose 5.4% but Asda remained the industry laggard with sales falling 2.7% and a loss of 0.9 percentage points of market share on the year.
Discounter Lidl and online supermarket Ocado remained Britain’s fastest growing grocers with sales growth of 11.0% and 11.9% respectively.
Worldpanel highlighted sales growth for supermarkets’ premium own label lines of 10.3% over the 12 weeks, making it six straight months that they’ve increased by double digits – more evidence that consumers are looking to save money by treating themselves at home rather than dining out.
UK supermarkets’ market share and sales growth (%)
Market share Market % change in
12 weeks to share 12 sales
September 7 weeks to (year-on-ye
2025 September 8 ar)
2024
Tesco 28.4 27.6 7.7
Sainsbury’s 15.1 15.0 5.4
Asda 11.8 12.7 -2.7
Aldi 10.7 10.7 4.7
Morrisons 8.4 8.7 1.4
Lidl 8.2 7.8 11.0
Co-operative 5.4 5.8 -2.0
Waitrose 4.4 4.5 4.3
Iceland 2.3 2.3 4.7
Ocado 1.9 1.8 11.9
Source: Worldpanel by Numerator
(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)
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