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Air fares and food prices push up UK inflation in July | |
(32 minutes later) | |
Prices in the UK rose by 3.8% in the year to July, driven mainly by a jump in the price of air fares coinciding with the school summer holidays. | Prices in the UK rose by 3.8% in the year to July, driven mainly by a jump in the price of air fares coinciding with the school summer holidays. |
That means inflation is at its highest level since January 2024 and still far above the Bank of England's target of 2%. | That means inflation is at its highest level since January 2024 and still far above the Bank of England's target of 2%. |
A rise in the cost of eating out, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages more generally, also helped to push up prices, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). | A rise in the cost of eating out, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages more generally, also helped to push up prices, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). |
The Bank's latest forecast expects inflation to peak at 4% in September. | The Bank's latest forecast expects inflation to peak at 4% in September. |
July's inflation rise was slightly higher than what most economists had predicted and compares with a rise of 3.6% in the year to June. | |
ONS Chief Economist Grant Fitzner said the "hefty" increase of 30.2% in air fares between June and July was the biggest jump for that period since the collection of monthly data began in 2001. | |
He said it was "likely due to the timing of this year's school holidays". | |
This year, the collection day for the ONS data overlapped with the start of the school holidays in a way they didn't last year. | |
The cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 4.9% in the year to July, up from 4.5% in the year to June. It was the fourth month in a row in which food and drink inflation had risen, bringing prices to their highest since February 2024. | |
Coffee, fresh orange juice, meat, and chocolate saw the biggest price rises. | Coffee, fresh orange juice, meat, and chocolate saw the biggest price rises. |
Reacting to the latest figures Chancellor Rachel Reeves said there was "more to do to ease the cost of living". | Reacting to the latest figures Chancellor Rachel Reeves said there was "more to do to ease the cost of living". |
"We have taken the decisions needed to stabilise the public finances, and we're a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous government, but there's more to do to ease the cost of living," she added. | "We have taken the decisions needed to stabilise the public finances, and we're a long way from the double-digit inflation we saw under the previous government, but there's more to do to ease the cost of living," she added. |