Food prices will rise by an average of 4.2% in the latter half of the year as retailers battle £7 billion of increased costs from the Budget, a retail body has warned.

There is "little hope" of food prices "going anywhere but up" in the second half of 2025 due to changes announced in the Budget, a retail lobby group has warned. The costs of higher wages and National Insurance tax changes coming in April will be passed on to consumers, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said.

The BRC said there was ‘little hope of prices going anywhere but up’ amid higher national insurance, National Living Wage and packaging costs.