August 2008
Comment
- CPI inflation reached 4.4% in July, up from 3.8% in June and more than double the Bank of England’s inflation target of 2%. The increase was mainly driven by rising food prices, which were 14% higher than a year ago. Large upward contributions also came from rising transport costs, as fuel prices and the cost of air travel increased by 26% and 9% respectively. Headline inflation also came in firmer at 5.0%, while RPI excluding mortgage interest payments rose to 5.3%.
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All three measures came in higher than we anticipated last month and therefore we have revised up our forecasts. We continue to expect CPI to peak significantly above target this year as increases in utility tariffs take effect. CPI is forecast to exceed 5% in September before peaking at 5.2% in October. Over the next 12 months, however, we expect some subsequent easing as CPI is expected to come down to 2.7%, while headline inflation is forecast to fall from 5.0% to 2.9%.
Inflation rates, % annual change
|
Apr 08 |
May 08 |
Jun 08 |
Jul 08 |
|
RPI |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
5.0 |
|
RPIX |
4.0 |
4.4 |
4.8 |
5.3 |
|
CPI |
3.0 |
3.3 |
3.8 |
4.4 |
Source: National Statistics
Next updated on 16 September
Inflation definitions
CPI – The consumer prices index (formerly harmonised index of consumer prices - HICP) is the Bank of England’s target measure of inflation. It measures the average change from month to month in the prices of a large and representative sample of more than 650 goods and services purchased by most UK households.
RPI – The retail price index includes prices covered by the consumer price index as well as housing costs – council tax, mortgage interest payments, depreciation and insurance.
RPIX – This is the retail price index excluding mortgage interest payments.