Shop prices fell for a 30th month in a row in October, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Overall, the BRC said prices fell 1.8% in October, following a 1.9% drop in September. Despite the ongoing supermarket price war, the figures showed food price deflation at just 0.4%, slowing slightly from 0.5 a month earlier.
The deflation of non-food prices also slowed slightly from 2.9% to 2.8%.
BRC Chief Executive, Helen Dickinson, said: “From a big picture perspective, retailers will be considering the implications of the recent government announcements — implementing the National Living Wage, the apprenticeship levy and the increasing cost of business rates requires retailers to find over £14bn of efficiency improvements over the next 5 years.
"In a competitive, deflationary environment where jobs and growth in communities up and down the country are vital, the industry’s ability to play its part in investing in the Living Wage is being hindered by the business rates system. The Chancellor needs to reduce the disproportionate burden of business rates on the retail industry and keep going with the structural review because this is the key to delivering the core of the Government’s reform programme."
