What’s going on with food prices?published at 11:45 BST
Michael Race
Senior business and economics reporter
Inflation – the main measure of the cost of living in the UK – held steady last month, but revealed in the data the rising cost of a food shop.
The rise in food prices is a big contributor to how we feel when it comes to our personal finances. Everyone needs to buy food, so you notice when prices in the shops are going up.
Food inflation is currently at 5.1%, which means a supermarket shop that cost you £100 this time last year, for example, would be £105.10 now.
Beef, butter, milk and coffee are just some of the main goods going up in price.
There are various reasons why this is happening – higher energy prices often drive up costs for everything, but also there have been increases in the minimum wage and National Insurance for employers, which is likely to have been passed on through price rises for customers. Poor harvests due to the extreme warm weather are now affecting prices too.
The Bank of England thinks overall inflation will peak at 4% in September, which will be double its target of keeping it at 2% – that is why a hold is expected today as it looks to slow the pace of price rises.