UK inflation jumps back to 10.1% as food costs surge

LONDON - The United Kingdom's (UK) consumer prices index (CPI) rose by 10.1 percent in the 12 months to September 2022, up from 9.9 percent in August and returning to July's recent high.

On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.5 percent in September over August, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday.

"After last month's small fall, headline inflation returned to its high seen earlier in the summer," explained Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics.

"The rise was driven by further increases across food, which saw its largest annual rise in over 40 years, while hotel prices also increased after falling this time last year," he continued.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 14.6 percent in the 12 months to September, hitting a 42-year high, said the ONS, noting that the largest upward effects came from bread and cereals, meat products, and milk, cheese and eggs.

The continued fall in the price of motor fuels made the largest, partially offsetting, downward contribution, according to the ONS.

September's consumer prices figures maintain the pressure on the central bank, the Bank of England (BoE), to hike the interest rate substantially at its next meeting on Nov 3, despite the developing recession, said Samuel Tombs, Chief UK Economist from Pantheon Macroeconomics.

In late September, the BoE raised its benchmark interest rate to 2.25 percent to battle inflation.