Retail professionals have revealed that prices across UK retailers may increase as much as 8% in 2017.

According to data provided by KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank, retail prices are looking to rise at least 5% over the course of next year, with necessities becoming more costly, as well as retail growth deteriorating due to the weak pound, Brexit and the new US president.

Other figures show that inflation reached a two-year high of 1.2% in November, as well as petrol increasing as world costs rose 7.4% year-on-year.

Kay Neufeld, an economist of the centre for economics and business research, commented: 'After three months of falling growth rates there is no doubt that households' discretionary income growth is on a downward trajectory'.

'The greatest danger stems from rising inflation paired with a flailing labour market.

'While wage growth has accelerated in the latest readings, employment growth has slowed and the claimant count is rising.

'An economic slowdown in 2017 could put additional pressure on the labour market.' 

In the Retail Think Tank report it has stated that there will be a decrease in discretionary spending in 2017 on things such as mobile phones, however overall retail spending will still rise 0.5%.

Paul Martin, KPMG’s UK head of retail and Retail Think Tank co-chairman, said: 'You could argue that the Great British consumer has broadly ignored the result of the Brexit referendum, with consumer spending continuing to grow over the final months of the year.'

'This is very likely to change in 2017 and the sector will face much stronger headwinds.

'We will see inflation rise, potentially up to 3% by the end of the year. In conjunction with continued FX rate fluctuations, prices will rise'.

But, the main concern is how much of this will really be passed on to consumers. The RTT discovered that UK shoppers defied Brexit fears earlier this year'. 

'The question remains how much will be absorbed within the supplier base, by retailers and actually be passed on to the consumer.'

 'A conservative view at the moment is that this will amount to 5-8% price increases over the course of the year, understandably varying across categories.'