- The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 9.9% in August and returning to July’s recent high.
- On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.5% in September 2022, compared with a rise of 0.3% in September 2021.
- Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to the change in both the CPIH and CPI annual inflation rates between August and September 2022.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 9.9% in August. The CPI monthly rate was 0.5% in September 2022, compared with 0.3% in September 2021. In September 2022, the CPI annual inflation rate returned to the July level, which was the highest annual CPI inflation rate in the National Statistic series, which began in January 1997. Indicative modeled consumer price inflation estimates suggest that the CPI rate would last have been higher around 1982, where estimates range from nearly 11% in January down to approximately 6.5% in December.
The largest contribution to the annual rate in September 2022 for both CPIH and CPI is from housing and household services. The second largest contribution came from food and non-alcoholic beverages, which has overtaken that from transport.
As with last month, rising food prices meant that food and non-alcoholic beverages made the largest upward contribution to the change in the annual inflation rate in September 2022, while falling pump prices for motor fuels made a large offsetting downward contribution.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 14.6% in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 13.1% in August. The annual rate of inflation for this category has continued to rise for the last 14 consecutive months, from negative 0.6% in July 2021. The current rate is estimated to be the highest since April 1980, as presented in the consumer price inflation extended historic series.
Figure 2: Inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages reaches 42-year high
CPIH, and food and non-alcoholic beverages annual inflation rates, UK, September 2012 to September 2022
The increase in the annual rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages between August and September 2022 was driven by price movements across eight of the more detailed classes. The largest upward effects came from bread and cereals, meat products, and milk, cheese and eggs, where prices rose between August and September 2022, but fell between the same two months in 2021.
Overall prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages have risen throughout 2022, however prices rose more slowly (by 1.1%) between August and September 2022, than between July and August 2022 (where prices increased by 1.5%).
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