UK inflation fell in November for the first time in almost two years, providing a small relief for consumers ahead of the key Christmas period, but still remaining close to record highs.  According to Kantar, supermarket inflation in November was 14.6%, down 0.1 percentage points from October’s record.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer at Kantar, said that “supermarket inflation still has a long way to fall and, if the current rate is maintained, shoppers will have to spend £60 more in December to buy the same items as last year”.

According to Kantar, grocery sales were up 5.9% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 27 November, masking a fall in volumes when inflation is taken into account.

In addition, Kantar found that consumers are adopting strategies to mitigate rising costs, with sales of own-brand products up 11.7% year-on-year and sales of the cheapest own-brand products up 46.3%.

On the other hand, German discount chains Aldi and Lidl were again the fastest growing supermarkets, with sales up 24.4% and 22.0% respectively.

Separate surveys released by payment processor Barclaycard and the British Retail Consortium showed that spending rose last month at a pace well behind inflation, underlining the pressure on household budgets.