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.

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.

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.

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.