Britain's decision to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum has not had any immediate impact on grocery prices or the volume of goods sold, according to industry data published on Tuesday.

Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said overall grocery sales rose 0.1 percent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to July 19, while deflation was 1.4 percent.

"The EU referendum result has had no immediate impact on the prices retailers are charging or the sales volumes consumers are buying over the past 12 weeks," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

"The nation's average shopping basket is 1.4 percent cheaper than a year ago, exactly the same level of deflation as reported last month, and it remains to be seen if the Brexit vote will bring about any price rises this year."

Market leader Tesco's sales fell 0.7 percent year-on-year, with its market share falling 0.2 percentage points to 28.3 percent - its slowest rate of share loss since March 2014. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie