Consumer prices in the UK in June rose by 3.6% in annual terms, according to the report of the country’s National Statistics Office (ONS).
In May, inflation was 3.4%. Analysts on average had forecast the rate of price growth to remain at May’s level, according to Trading Economics.
June’s inflation rate was the highest since January 2024, the ONS said.
Food and non-alcoholic drinks rose in June by 4.5% (up 4.4% in May), entertainment and recreation by 3.3% (up 3.2%) and transport services by 1.7% (up 0.7%). Prices in restaurants and hotels increased by 2.6% (up 2.8%). The cost of clothing and footwear rose 0.5% after a 0.3% decline a month earlier.
Consumer prices rose 0.3 per cent in June from the previous month, compared with a 0.2 per cent rise in May.
Prices excluding the cost of food, alcohol, tobacco and energy (CPI Core, core inflation) rose 3.7% year-over-year and 0.4% month-over-month. In May, the former index rose 3.5% and the latter rose 0.2%.
Retail price increases (RPI) accelerated last month to 4.4% year-on-year from May’s 4.3%. This is the indicator used by UK employers when negotiating wages. The difference in the performance of CPI and RPI is due to the inclusion of housing costs in RPI, as well as the different weighting of air fares, insurance and petrol prices.
Compared to the previous month, the RPI rose 0.4 per cent after a 0.2 per cent increase in May.