UK CPI eased to 8.7% in April, but core rate climbed to 1992 highs

MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The interannual inflation rate in the United Kingdom stood at 8.7% last April, compared to 10.1% registered in March, as reported on Wednesday by the British National Statistics Office (ONS, for its acronym in English).

The slowdown in the rise in prices in the month of April was thus less than expected by the consensus of analysts, who anticipated an inflation rate of 8.2%.

The ONS has highlighted that the slowdown in the CPI annual rate reflected downward contributions from 6 of the 12 divisions, with the greatest downward contribution coming from housing and domestic services, while the greatest upward variation was observed in leisure and culture.

In the fourth month of 2023, the year-on-year rise in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages was 19%, just one tenth below the rise of the previous month, while housing supplies became more expensive by 12.3% year-on-year , after the rise of 26.1% in March.

For its part, the core CPI, which excludes the volatility of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, accelerated in April to 6.8%, six tenths more than in March and its highest level since March 1992. .

In monthly terms, prices registered an increase of 1.2% in the fourth month of the year, compared to the rise of 2.5% in March.

At its last meeting, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee decided to raise the reference interest rate for its operations by 25 basis points, to 4.5%, its highest level since autumn 2008, thus extending to twelve consecutive meetings the sequence of increases in the price of money.

In its analysis, the Bank of England indicated that it expects the inflation rate to "fall sharply from April", partly as a consequence of the base effect due to the strong increases registered a year ago.