UK grocery inflation eases further, says Worldpanel

By James Davey

LONDON, Aug ‌18 (Reuters) - British grocery ​price ​inflation eased to its lowest level since October 2024 in August, market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator said on Tuesday, offering more ‌respite to households grappling with elevated living costs.

Like-for-like grocery inflation ⁠was 2.1% in the four weeks to August 9, according to Worldpanel, versus 2.6% ‌in last month's report and ‌3.0% in the one before that.

The Worldpanel data is the most up-to-date snapshot of UK consumer behaviour and provides an early indication of food ​pricing pressures in August.

Official inflation data for July will be published on Wednesday.

UK food inflation has not hit the levels that were ⁠forecast earlier in the year, due to fierce supermarket competition, consumers' resistance to further price rises and ​better hedging by suppliers.

Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made tackling the cost of living a priority.

SHOPPERS TURNED ​TO PROMOTIONS

The data showed UK grocery sales ‌increased 2.5% over the four weeks year-on-year, with 31.3% of sales including a deal.

The hot weather drove a 58.4% ⁠jump in sales of sun cream, with ice cream/sorbet sales up 26.1%.

Worldpanel said that over the 12 weeks to August 9, industry leader Tesco's sales rose 1.8% ⁠year-on-year, but its market share edged lower for the third report in a row. ​Sales at number-two player Sainsbury's rose 3.5%.

While Marks & Spencer isn't fully included in the Worldpanel data set, it remained the UK's fastest-growing food retailer with a 15.9% rise ‌in sales of groceries.

Online supermarket Ocado was the second fastest growing with a 13.1% increase, followed by discounter Lidl ‌with growth of 8.5%.

While sales at number-three player Asda fell 0.2%, this was ⁠its best performance since March ‌2024.

UK supermarkets' market share ​and sales growth (%)

Market share Market % change in

12 weeks to share 12 sales

August 9 weeks to year-on-yea

2026 August 10 r

2025

Tesco 27.8 28.1 1.8

Sainsbury's 15.2 15.1 3.5

Asda 11.5 11.9 -0.2

Aldi 10.7 10.9 1.1

Lidl 8.8 8.3 8.5

Morrisons 8.5 8.4 3.3

Co-operative 5.5 5.4 5.1

Waitrose 4.5 4.5 2.8

Iceland 2.3 2.3 2.4

Ocado 2.1 1.9 13.1

Source: Worldpanel by Numerator

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by ‌William James)

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