Two thirds of the nation’s top retailers have warned they will have to raise prices to cope with rising tax bills triggered by chancellor Rachel Reeves’s budget.

Two thirds of British retailers will raise prices this year in response to higher employer social security costs introduced in the new Labour government's first budget, a survey of finance chiefs showed on Wednesday.

UK inflation fell to 2.5% in December, however two-thirds of retailers surveyed by British Retail Consortium are planning to raise prices in response to increased national insurance costs.

Most retailers plan to raise prices to cover higher taxes in the UK government’s first budget, a lobby group’s survey found.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain WhyAs E-Bikes Boom in NYC,

A rise in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) is expected to add £2.5bn to retailers' costs in 2025, following Reeves' Budget.

U.K. retailers are expecting a bleak 2025 and most of them plan to raise prices in the wake of cost increases related to the national insurance contributions this year, a report showed.