The inflation rate for the Retail Price Index (RPI) in the United Kingdom was 4.5 percent in April 2025, up from 3.2 percent in the previous month. From 2021 onwards, prices in the UK rose rapidly, with the RPI inflation rate peaking at 14.2 percent in October 2022. Although inflation fell in subsequent months, it wasn't until July 2023 that inflation fell below double digits, and as of late 2024, the RPI rate was still above three percent. The CPI and CPIH While the retail price index is still a popular method of calculating inflation, the consumer price index (CPI) is the current main measurement of inflation in the UK. There is also an additional price index, which includes some extra housing costs, known as the Consumer Price Index including homer occupiers' costs (CPIH) index, which is seen by the UK's Office of National Statistics as the official inflation rate. As of December 2024, the CPI inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, while the CPIH rate was 3.5 percent. Core inflation down in 2024 Another way of measuring inflation is to strip out the volatility of energy and food prices and look at the underlying core inflation rate. As of December 2024, this was 3.2 percent, slightly higher than the overall CPI rate, but more aligned with the overall figure than it was in 2022 and 2023. When inflation peaked at 11.2 percent in October 2022, for example, core inflation stood at just 6.5 percent. After energy prices in 2023 fell relative to 2022, the overall inflation rate in the UK declined quite rapidly, with core inflation overtaking the overall rate in July 2023. During the most recent period of high inflation, core inflation peaked at 7.1 percent in May 2023, and while taking longer to fall than the overall figure, has generally been declining since then.

L'indice des prix à la consommation au Royaume-Uni a augmenté à 4,50 % en avril contre 3,20 % en mars 2025. Cette dataset fournit l'Indice des Prix à la Consommation (IPC) du Royaume-Uni sur un an - valeurs réelles, données historiques, prévisions, graphiques, statistiques, calendrier économique et actualités.

Inflation is an important measure of any country’s economy, and the Retail Price Index (RPI) is one of the most widely used indicators in the United Kingdom, with the rate expected to be 4.1 percent in 2025, compared with 3.6 percent in 2024. This followed 2022, when RPI inflation reached a rate of 11.6 percent, by far the highest annual rate during this provided time period. CPI vs RPI Although the Retail Price Index is a commonly utilized inflation indicator, the UK also uses a newer method of calculating inflation, the Consumer Price Index. The CPI, along with the CPIH (Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers' housing costs) are usually preferred by the UK government, but the RPI is still used in certain instances. Increases in rail fares for example, are calculated using the RPI, while increases in pension payments are calculated using CPI, when this is used as the uprating factor. The use of one inflation measure over the other can therefore have a significant impact on people’s lives in the UK. High inflation falls to more typical levels by 2024 Like the Retail Price Index, the Consumer Price Index inflation rate also reached a recent peak in October 2022. In that month, prices were rising by 11.1 percent and did not fall below double figures until April 2023. This fall was largely due to slower price increases in key sectors such as energy, which drove a significant amount of the 2022 wave of inflation. Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation. As of February 2025, the overall CPI inflation rate was 2.8 percent, although an uptick in inflation is expected later in the year, with a rate of 3.7 percent forecast for the third quarter of the year.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) is one of the main measures of inflation used to calculate the change in the price of goods and services within the British economy. In the first quarter of 2025 the index value was 393.7, indicating that the price for a fixed basket of goods had increased by almost 294 percent since 1987. The RPI inflation rate for March 2025 was 3.2 percent, down from 3.4 percent in the previous month. Inflation and UK living standards For UK consumers, high inflation is one of the main drivers of the ongoing cost of living crisis. With wages struggling to keep up with the pace of inflation for a long period between 2021 and 2023, UK households saw their living standards fall significantly. In 2022/23, real household disposable income in the UK is estimated to have fallen by 2.1 percent, which was the biggest fall in living standards since 1956. While there have been some signals that the crisis eased somewhat in 2024, such as falling energy and food inflation, an increasing share of UK households have reported increasing living costs since Summer 2024. Additional inflation indicators Aside from the Retail Price Index, the UK also produces other inflation indices such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH). While these particular indices measure consumer price increases slightly differently, they both provide an overall picture of rising prices. More specific inflation rates, such as by sector, are also produced, while other indices omit certain items, such as core inflation, which excludes food and energy inflation, to provide a more stable measure of inflation.

United Kingdom UK: Retail Price Index: All Items data was reported at 117.665 2010=100 in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 115.663 2010=100 for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Retail Price Index: All Items data is updated yearly, averaging 36.329 2010=100 from Dec 1948 (Median) to 2016, with 69 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 117.665 2010=100 in 2016 and a record low of 3.801 2010=100 in 1948. United Kingdom UK: Retail Price Index: All Items data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Monetary Fund. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.IMF.IFS: Consumer and Producer Price Index: Annual.

Graph and download economic data for Consumer Price Index: Retail price Index: All Items for the United Kingdom (CPRPTT01GBM661N) from Jan 1960 to Feb 2018 about United Kingdom, all items, retail, CPI, housing, price index, indexes, and price.

This statistic shows the predicted change in retail prices index (RPI) in the United Kingdom (UK) between 2017 and 2023. A slight and steady decline is forecasted to occur during the period from 2018 to 2023.

Measures of monthly UK inflation data including CPIH, CPI and RPI. These tables complement the consumer price inflation time series dataset.

The inflation rate for the Retail Price Index in the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2022 reached 13.9 percent, before falling in the subsequent quarters. The RPI rate in the fourth quarter of 2024 was 3.5 percent, with an uptick expected in RPI inflation expected in 2025, peaking at 4.6 percent in the third quarter of 2025.

United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Weights: All Items data was reported at 1,000.000 Per 1000 in 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1,000.000 Per 1000 for 2017. United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Weights: All Items data is updated yearly, averaging 1,000.000 Per 1000 from Dec 1947 (Median) to 2018, with 72 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,000.000 Per 1000 in 2018 and a record low of 1,000.000 Per 1000 in 2018. United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Weights: All Items data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.I012: Retail Price Index: Weights.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure the changes from month to month in the cost of a representative 'basket' of goods and services bought by consumers within the UK. This involves weighting together price changes in the indices according to household spending patterns for different categories of goods and services so that each takes its appropriate share. At the beginning of each year the weights used to compile both the CPI and RPI are updated using the latest available information on household spending. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Updating Weights

Comprehensive database of time series covering measures of inflation data for the UK including CPIH, CPI and RPI.

Retail Price Index data was reported at 395.300 13Jan1987=100 in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 394.000 13Jan1987=100 for Feb 2025. Retail Price Index data is updated monthly, averaging 194.200 13Jan1987=100 from Jan 1987 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 459 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 395.300 13Jan1987=100 in Mar 2025 and a record low of 100.000 13Jan1987=100 in Jan 1987. Retail Price Index data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.I013: Retail Price Index: 13 January 1987=100.

Price quote data (for locally collected data only) and consumption segment indices that underpin consumer price inflation statistics, giving users access to the detailed data that are used in the construction of the UK’s inflation figures. The data are being made available for research purposes only and are not an accredited official statistic. From October 2024, private school fees and part-time education classes have been included in the consumption segment indices file. For more information on the introduction of consumption segments, please see the Consumer Prices Indices Technical Manual, 2019. Note that this dataset was previously called the consumer price inflation item indices and price quotes dataset.

There are a number of differences between the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) and Retail Prices Index (RPI), including their coverage, population base, commodity measurement and methods of construction. Combined, these differences have meant that, for most of its history, the CPI has been lower than the RPI. One of the main reasons to this difference is the method of construction at the lowest level, where different formulae are used in the CPI and RPI to combine individual prices. This difference is usually referred to as the formula effect. This article will investigate similar formula effects present in the inflation measures of other countries, and where necessary will attempt to explain why the magnitude of the formula effect experienced by other countries differs from that of the UK.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: International Comparison

United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Housing: Rent data was reported at 367.900 13Jan1987=100 in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 367.600 13Jan1987=100 for May 2018. United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Housing: Rent data is updated monthly, averaging 253.200 13Jan1987=100 from Jan 1987 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 378 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 367.900 13Jan1987=100 in Jun 2018 and a record low of 100.000 13Jan1987=100 in Jan 1987. United Kingdom Retail Price Index: Housing: Rent data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.I011: Retail Price Index.

In April 2025, the UK inflation rate for goods was 1.7 percent and 5.4 percent for services. Prices for goods accelerated significantly, sharply between in 2021 and 2022 before falling in 2023. By comparison, prices for services initially grew at a more moderate rate, but have also not fallen as quickly. The overall CPI inflation rate for the UK reached a recent high of 11.1 percent in October 2022 and remained in double-figures until April 2023, when it fell to 8.7 percent. As of this month, the UK's inflation rate was 2.6 percent, down from 2.8 percent in the previous month. Sectors driving high inflation In late 2024, communication was the sector with the highest inflation rate, with prices increasing by 6.1 percent as of December 2024. During the recent period of high inflation that eased in 2023, food and energy prices were particular high, with housing and energy inflation far higher than in any other sector, peaking at 26.6 percent towards the end of 2022. High food and energy prices since 2021 have been one of the main causes of the cost of living crisis in the UK, especially for low-income households that spend a higher share of their income on these categories. This is likely one of the factors driving increasing food bank usage in the UK, which saw approximately 3.12 million people use a food bank in 2023/24, compared with 1.9 million just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The global inflation crisis The UK has not been alone in suffering rapid price increases since 2021. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of economic and geopolitical shocks had a dramatic impact on the global economy. A global supply chain crisis failed to meet rising demand in 2021, leading to the beginning of an Inflation Crisis, which was only exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The war directly influenced the prices of food and energy, as both countries were major exporters of important crops. European imports of hydrocarbons from Russia were also steadily reduced throughout 2022 and 2023, resulting in higher energy prices throughout the year.

The Prices Survey Microdata include the underlying price data used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to produce the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and associated price indices. The CPI has become the main domestic measure of inflation for macroeconomic purposes in the UK. Since December 2003 it has been used for the inflation target that the Bank of England is required to achieve. The RPI is the most long-standing measure of inflation in the UK, and its uses have included the indexation of pensions, state benefits and index-linked gilts. The study also includes the data underlying the Producer Prices Index.

There are four levels of sampling for local price collection: locations/shopping areas; outlets/shops within locations; representative items/goods and services; and products and varieties (price quotes).

There are two basic price collection methods: local and central. Local collection is used for most items; prices are obtained from outlets in about 150 locations around the country. Some 110,000 quotations are obtained by this method. Normally, collectors must visit the outlet, but prices for some items may be collected by telephone. Central collection is used for items where all the prices can be collected centrally by the ONS with no field work. These prices can be further sub-divided into two categories, depending on their subsequent use: 1) central shops, where the prices are combined with prices obtained locally, and 2) central items, where the prices are used on their own to construct centrally calculated indices. There are about 130 items for which the prices are collected centrally.

The retail price data include the locations containing the shopping outlets from which the price quotes were obtained. These locations are intended to be broadly representative of a central shopping area and the areas where the local shopping population tend to live. The data also include the regions in which those shopping areas are located.

Linking to other business studies
The producer prices data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest edition information
For the thirty-fifth edition (May 2024), monthly Item Indices and Price Quotes data files for January to March 2024 have been added to the study.

Retail Price Index: Clothing and Footwear: Other Clothing data was reported at 232.900 13Jan1987=100 in Sep 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 230.000 13Jan1987=100 for Aug 2018. Retail Price Index: Clothing and Footwear: Other Clothing data is updated monthly, averaging 150.900 13Jan1987=100 from Jan 1987 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 381 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 232.900 13Jan1987=100 in Sep 2018 and a record low of 100.000 13Jan1987=100 in Jan 1987. Retail Price Index: Clothing and Footwear: Other Clothing data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.I011: Retail Price Index.