Inflation Rises To 3.1%, Causing More Pain with Food and Travel Costs Increasing

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) 12-month inflation rate was 2.8% in November 2017, unchanged from October 2017.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 3.1% in November 2017, up from 3.0% in October 2017; it was last higher in March 2012.

The largest upward contribution to change in both the CPIH and CPI rates came from air fares which fell between October and November but by less than a year ago.

Rising prices for a range of recreational and cultural goods and services, most notably computer games, also had an upward effect.

Falling prices in the miscellaneous goods and services category (covering products such as travel goods and financial services) provided the largest offsetting downward contribution.

The annual inflation rate has more than doubled from 1.2% to 3.1% in the past year – its highest level since March 2012 – largely as a result of the fall in the value of the pound following the EU referendum in June 2016.

Under the terms of its independence, the Bank of England is obliged to keep inflation within one percentage point of the government’s 2% target.