The UK inflation rate was 3.6 percent in June 2025, up from 3.4 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since January 2024. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years. As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the communications sector, at 6.1 percent, but were falling in both the furniture and transport sectors, at -0.3 percent and -0.6 percent, respectively.
The Cost of Living Crisis High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. In December 2024, for example, 56 percent of UK households reported their cost of living was increasing compared with the previous month, up from 45 percent in July, but far lower than at the height of the crisis in 2022. After global energy prices spiraled that year, the UK's energy price cap increased substantially. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. As a result of these factors, UK households experienced their biggest fall in living standards in decades in 2022/23. Global inflation crisis causes rapid surge in prices The UK's high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services. Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 brought an end to the era of cheap gas flowing to European markets from Russia. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024.

The price of Wadding in June 2023 was $7,809 per ton (CIF, United Kingdom), showing a significant increase of 38% compared to the previous month.

The United Kingdom's economy grew by 1.1 percent in 2024, after a growth rate of 0.4 percent in 2023, 4.8 percent in 2022, 8.6 percent in 2021, and a record 10.3 percent fall in 2020. During the provided time period, the biggest annual fall in gross domestic product before 2020 occurred in 2009, when the UK economy contracted by 4.6 percent at the height of the global financial crisis of the late 2000s. Before 2021, the year with the highest annual GDP growth rate was 1973, when the UK economy grew by 6.5 percent. UK economy growing but GDP per capita falling In 2022, the UK's GDP per capita amounted to approximately 37,371 pounds, with this falling to 37,028 pounds in 2023, and 36,977 pounds in 2024. While the UK economy as a whole grew during this time, the UK's population grew at a faster rate, resulting in the negative growth in GDP per capita. This suggests the UK economy's struggles with productivity are not only stagnating, but getting worse. The relatively poor economic performance of the UK in recent years has not gone unnoticed by the electorate, with the economy consistently seen as the most important issue for voters since 2022. Recent shocks to UK economy In the second quarter of 2020, the UK economy shrank by a record 20.3 percent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there was a relatively swift economic recovery initially, the economy has struggled to grow much beyond its pre-pandemic size, and was only around 3.1 percent larger in December 2024, when compared with December 2019. Although the labor market has generally been quite resilient during this time, a long twenty-month period between 2021 and 2023 saw prices rise faster than wages, and inflation surge to a high of 11.1 percent in October 2022.

Learn about the import price and trends of register books in the United Kingdom in November 2022. Discover the major suppliers and their growth rates.

The economy of the United Kingdom shrank by 0.1 percent in May 2025, after shrinking by 0.3 percent in April 2025. As of the most recent month, the UK economy is around 4.4 percent larger than it was in February 2020, just before the start of COVID-19 lockdowns. After a record 19.6 percent decline in GDP in April 2020, the UK economy quickly returned to growth in the following months, and grew through most of 2021. Cost of living crisis lingers into 2025 As of December 2024, just over half of people in the UK reported that their cost of living was higher than it was in the previous month. Although this is a decline from the peak of the crisis in 2022 when over 90 percent of people reported a higher cost of living, households are evidently still under severe pressure. While wage growth has outpaced inflation since July 2023, overall consumer prices were 20 percent higher in late 2024 than they were in late 2021. For food and energy, which lower income households spend more on, late 2024 prices were almost 30 percent higher when compared with late 2021. According to recent estimates, living standards, as measured by changes in disposable income fell by 2.1 percent in 2022/23, but did start to grow again in 2023/24. Late 2023 recession followed by growth in 2024 In December 2023, the UK economy was approximately the same size as it was a year earlier, and struggled to achieve modest growth throughout that year. Going into 2023, a surge in energy costs, as well as high interest rates, created an unfavorable environment for UK consumers and businesses. The inflationary pressures that drove these problems did start to subside, however, with inflation falling to 3.9 percent in November 2023, down from a peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Although relatively strong economic growth occurred in the first half of 2024, with GDP growing by 0.7 percent, and 0.4 percent in the first two quarters of the year, zero growth was reported in the third quarter of the year. Long-term issues, such as low business investment, weak productivity growth, and regional inequality, will likely continue to hamper the economy going forward.

In April 2023, the plough price stood at $2,932 per unit (CIF, United Kingdom), experiencing a 15% increase compared to the previous month.

The average wholesale electricity price in August 2025 in the United Kingdom is forecast to amount to*******British pounds per megawatt-hour, a decrease from the previous month. A record high was reached in August 2022 when day-ahead baseload contracts averaged ***** British pounds per megawatt-hour. Electricity price stabilization in Europe Electricity prices increased in 2024 compared to the previous year, when prices stabilized after the energy supply shortage. Price spikes were driven by the growing wholesale prices of natural gas and coal worldwide, which are among the main sources of power in the region.

… and in the United Kingdom? The United Kingdom was one of the countries with the highest electricity prices worldwide during the energy crisis. Since then, prices have been stabilizing, almost to pre-energy crisis levels. The use of nuclear, wind, and bioenergy for electricity generation has been increasing recently. The fuel types are an alternative to fossil fuels and are part of the country's power generation plans going into the future.

We've looked at the recent surge in UK energy prices and the effects it is having on energy suppliers and UK industries.

In May 2023, the price of Animal Fats reached $6,191 per ton (CIF, United Kingdom), exhibiting a significant 56% increase compared to the previous month.

The excel document contains three tabs: README - provides column descriptions for the remaining two tabs. RawData - Eighteen unique profiles were modelled, with ten runs per profile, for two scenarios: morphological updating enabled, and then disabled. This results in a dataset comprising 360 individual model runs. Each row represents one run as is described in the README tab. Statistics - Calculates the average overtopping discharge (with and without morphological change) for each representative profile. The methodology used to generate this data set is described in: Pollard et al. (2021).

As the coronavirus outbreak is forcing many governments worldwide to impose lockdowns and citizens are advised to practice social distancing and stay home, DIY activities have seen a surge with individuals in the United Kingdom (UK). Between March 9-15, 2020, online sales of home improvement and gardening retail products grew almost by ** percent compared to the same period the year before. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

In the four weeks leading up to June 16, 2025, the housing market in the UK saw the stock of homes for sale increase by ** percent compared to the same period in 2024. New inventory, demand, and the number of agreed sales also increased, albeit at a lower rate.

The price of Refined Olive Oil in March 2023 was $5,277 per ton (CIF, United Kingdom), reflecting a 10% increase compared to the previous month.

In March 2023, the Pear price reached $1,257 per ton (CIF, United Kingdom), indicating a 2.3% increase compared to the previous month.

The UK residential rental market is poised for significant growth, with forecasts indicating a cumulative increase of nearly **** percent by 2029. This surge is expected to be front-loaded, with a robust *****percent rise anticipated in 2025. Rental growth has accelerated notably since 2021, with August 2024 experiencing a decade-high annual percentage growth. The trend reflects the complex interplay between housing affordability, mortgage rates, and supply of rental homes, as the UK housing market navigates a period of transition.

Date imports peaked at 26K tons in 2021 but decreased in the following years, with a total value of $77M in 2023.

According to the forecast, the North West and Yorkshire & the Humber are the UK regions expected to see the highest overall growth in house prices over the five-year period between 2025 and 2029. Just behind are the North East and West Midlands. In London, house prices are expected to rise by **** percent.

In June 2023, the Hand Sieve price reached $920 per thousand units (CIF, United Kingdom), increasing by 7.7% compared to the previous month.

In August 2024, the Metal Bath price was $3.7 per unit (CIF, United Kingdom), seeing a 17% increase from the previous month.

In May 2023, the growth rate for cheese imports reached its highest point with a 28% month-on-month increase. Furthermore, the value of cheese imports rose significantly to $216 million in November 2023.