MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Retail fish prices soar by nearly 23% in United Kingdom

Fish and meat were the food categories that exhibited the fastest increase in price

United Kingdom prices have risen by 8.3%t since the beginning of the year amid fears that Britain is facing the worst economic conditions in decades, a report said Friday.

The study conducted by Verdict Research for the BBCindicated that essential commodities such as meat and fish have risen by 22.9%, with the price of vegetables and fresh fruit up by 14.7%. Some individual food items have witnessed an almost 50 % jump in value. The figures come amid an already gloomy economic outlook about the UK housing sector and fuel prices. New car sales -- a key indicator of consumer confidence - fell to their lowest level since 1966. The data collected by Verdict since January, tracked the cost of typical food items used by households by dividing them into 13 categories like frozen foods, fresh fruit and vegetables, ready meals and dairy goods. According to the index, meat and fish prices were the fastest rising categories with store-cupboard items up 15%. Seven items in the survey were found to have gone up in price by more than 40%. Supermarkets said sales of own-brand items are climbing at 6%, twice the rate of more expensive branded products. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) pointed out that food price inflation over the past year amounted to 10%. Inflation is at 4.4% and the Bank of England expects it to peak at 5%. The original target was 2%. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said earlier this week that Britain will be the only one of the world's seven leading economies to fall into a recession this year. The Paris-based think-tank predicted that the UK economy will shrink 0.3% in the third quarter and by 0.4% in the last three months of 2008. (FIS/MP).-