UK inflation rate eases to 2.8% in April, but slowdown is expected to be short-lived
The slowdown was driven by lower electricity and gas prices, though economists warned higher fuel costs could lift inflation again.
- On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics reported UK inflation eased to 2.8% in April, falling below the 3% economists polled by Reuters had anticipated.
- The April 1 energy price cap from Ofgem drove the decline; Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, attributed smaller rises in water, sewage, and road tax costs to the slowdown.
- Employment data on Tuesday showed the unemployment rate rose to 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in February, while lower food prices for chocolate and meat also eased inflation.
- The Bank is monitoring 'second round' effects such as wage demands, as the Monetary Policy Committee prepares for its June 18 policy meeting where economists expect rates may hold.
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves plans reforms to approve critical energy schemes amid pressure to exploit North Sea reserves, while higher energy costs from the Iran war continue to threaten the inflation outlook.
64 Articles
64 Articles
Will inflation keep slowing down?
The rate of inflation slowed in April despite concerns about the impact of the Iran war and oil shortages on household bills, but this dip may be only temporary.Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was 2.8% in April, down from 3.3% in March. The lower energy price cap introduced in April “helped soften the sharp rise in fuel costs since the start of the Iran war”, said The Guardian.But the fall…
UK inflation cools more than expected but Middle East crisis clouds outlook
British inflation cooled by more than expected in April but the slowdown did little to mask a tough outlook for households, with global costs from the Iran war set to hit them harder later this year. Consumer prices rose by an annual 2.8 per cent, down from March’s annual inflation rate of 3.3 per cent, official data showed, helped by smaller increases in household energy and other regulated utility bills than in April 2025, and by measures to …
Devdiscourse
RTÉUK inflation slows to 2.8% in April
The finance ministry is also pressing supermarket chains to introduce voluntary price caps on key food products in return for easing some regulations, two people with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday. The key question for the BoE's interest rate-setters is whether the expected rise in headline inflation creates longer-term price pressures in the economy.
The real reason inflation has fallen
Reprieve! The British consumer has received a stay of execution. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show inflation last month fell to 2.8 per cent – down from 3.3 per cent in March and by more than most economists had forecast. But don’t bother reading the ‘corner has been turned’ press release that the government will issue later, because today’s improvement is sadly not about to become a trend. Rachel Reeves has …
Inflation is falling more than experts expected in advance, and the Statistical Office is justifying the slowdown with a statistical effect.
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