The inflation rate for the Retail Price Index (RPI) in the United Kingdom was 4.3 percent in May 2025, down from 4.5 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.

Retail Price Index in the United Kingdom increased to 4.50 percent in April from 3.20 percent in March of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Retail Price Index YoY- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

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.

Consumer Price Index CPI in the United Kingdom increased to 138.40 points in May from 138.20 points in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Consumer Price Index (CPI) - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

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

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.

This spreadsheet contains data tables of historical estimates modelled for the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' Housing costs (CPIH) and CPI over the period 1950 to 1988 (1949 to 1987 for index values) published alongside the Office for National Statistics' article Consumer price inflation, historical estimates, UK 1950 to 1988.

Inflation Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 3.40 percent in May from 3.50 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Consumer price index (2010 = 100) in United Kingdom was reported at 147 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United Kingdom - Consumer price index (2010 = 100) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The UK inflation rate was 3.4 percent in May 2025, down from 3.5 percent in the previous month, and the fastest rate of inflation since February 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 Consumer Price Index of the United Kingdom was 136 in the first quarter of 2025, indicating that consumer prices have increased by 36 percent when compared with the first quarter of 2015. As of March 2025, the inflation rate for the CPI was 2.6 percent, a slight fall from the previous month. A long period of elevated inflation between 2021 and 2023 peaked in October 2022, and saw prices increase by over 20 percent in just three years. Uptick in inflation expected in 2025 In late 2024, the UK's main economic forecaster; the Office for Budget Responsibility, predicted that the annual inflation rate for 2025 would average out at around 2.6 percent. In March 2025, however, the OBR revised this figure upward, with annual inflation now expected to be 3.2 percent. This uptick in inflation is predicted to peak in the third quarter of the year at 3.7 percent, before falling to two percent by the second quarter of 2026. Although this period of higher inflation is predicted to be far less severe than in 2022, it will no doubt put further pressure on households already struggling with their cost of living. Cost of living woes continue The share of UK households reporting that their cost of living was increasing has been steadily rising since Summer 2024. At that time, less than half of UK households reported rising costs, down from 91 percent two years earlier. As of March 2025, however, 59 percent of households said their costs were rising, the highest figure since 2023. Of these households, 93 percent reported that their food shop was increasing, with three quarters of them reporting higher energy costs. With higher inflation predicted in 2025, the pressure on UK households will likely continue, although a crisis on the scale of 2021-2023 will hopefully be avoided.

Graph and download economic data for Inflation, consumer prices for the United Kingdom (FPCPITOTLZGGBR) from 1960 to 2024 about United Kingdom, consumer, CPI, inflation, price index, indexes, and price.

In 2024, the annual inflation rate for the United Kingdom was 2.5 percent, with the average rate for 2025 predicted to rise to 3.2 percent, revised upwards from an earlier prediction of 2.6 percent. The UK has only recently recovered from a period of elevated inflation, which saw the CPI rate reach 9.1 percent in 2022, and 7.3 percent in 2023. Despite an uptick in inflation expected in 2025, the inflation rate is expected to fall to 2.1 percent in 2026, and two percent between 2027 and 2029. UK inflation crisis Between 2021 and 2023, inflation surged in the UK, reaching a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Although inflation fell to more usual levels by 2024, prices in the UK had already increased by over 20 percent relative to the start of the crisis. The two main drivers of price increases during this time were food and energy inflation, two of the main spending areas of UK households. Although food and energy prices came down quite sharply in 2023, underlying core inflation, which measures prices rises without food and energy, remained slightly above the headline inflation rate throughout 2024, suggesting some aspects of inflation had become embedded in the UK economy. Inflation rises across in the world in 2022 The UK was not alone in suffering from runaway inflation over the last few years. From late 2021 onwards, various factors converged to encourage a global acceleration of prices, leading to the ongoing inflation crisis. Blocked-up supply chains were one of the main factors as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by energy and food inflation skyrocketing after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Central bank interest rates were raised globally in response to the problem, possibly putting an end to the era of cheap money that has defined monetary policy since the financial crash of 2008.

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.

Core consumer prices in the United Kingdom increased 3.50 percent in May of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Core Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Core Consumer Prices in the United Kingdom increased to 135.10 points in May from 135 points in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Core Consumer Prices - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

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.

Key information about UK Consumer Price Index CPI growth

• UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth was measured at 3.0 % YoY in Jan 2025, compared with a rate of 2.5 % in the previous month.
• UK Consumer Price Index growth data is updated monthly, available from Jan 1989 to Jan 2025, with an averaged number of 2.3 % YoY.
• The data reached an all-time high of 11.1 % YoY in Oct 2022 and a record low of -0.1 % YoY in Oct 2015.

Office for National Statistics provides monthly Consumer Price Index Growth with base 2015=100. Office for National Statistics calculates Consumer Price Index Growth from unrounded indices. Therefore, the result will not always give the correct value when rounded to one decimal place. [COVID-19-IMPACT]