Amazon Prime subscription price raised by £1 a month

Amazon is to raise the price of its Prime service for UK customers.

From September, monthly subscriptions will go up £1 to £8.99 and annual membership will increase from £79 to £95.

Amazon said the price rise was its first in the UK since 2014 and was due to "increased inflation and operating costs".

Other services such as Netflix have also increased subscription prices due to increasing costs.

Prime services offer unlimited delivery of products, and entertainment streaming services.

Amazon said the new pricing will begin from September, or at the customer's next membership renewal date - adding that switching to an annual plan or cancellation of membership is also an option. The increased competition in the entertainment streaming industry has led to more offerings for customers, leading to competitive pricing. But there is now the pressure of rising production costs amidst record high UK inflation of 9.4%.

New research suggests that the rising cost of living in Britain has led to households cancelling their streaming subscriptions.

But Amazon said it invested billions of pounds in to its content in recent years, with original series like The Terminal List, as well as Clarkson's Farm.

It is also investing millions in sport, including successfully bidding for the rights to screen Tuesday night Champions League football matches from 2024.

It already has the exclusive rights to 20 Premier League matches a season, including the entire round of matches on and around Boxing Day each year. And it has a five-year deal to exclusively broadcast the US Open tennis tournament in the UK.

The price rise comes months after Netflix increased the price of is plans in 2021 and 2022. It warned shareholders another two million subscribers were likely to leave in the three months to July.

Although at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns meant surges in subscriptions for platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, researchers at Kantar said the proportion of consumers planning to cancel subscriptions, stating the primary reason as "wanting to save money", had risen to its highest ever level.