UK inflation hits five-year high

The UK inflation rate reached its highest point in over five years in September 2017.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) climbed to 3% for the month, a level it hasn't reached since April 2012, and an increase on the 2.9% recorded in August.

The rate was driven up by “increases in transport and food prices”, writes the BBC, while Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has said that the rate is likely to keep rising due to the current weakness of the pound.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“The sole reason that inflation has gone up as much as it has is the depreciation of sterling,” Carney told the Treasury Committee today.

The inflation increase “raises the likelihood of an increase in interest rates next months”, writes the BBC. Interest rates currently sit at 0.25%.

The Guardian says the increase is bad news for workers, “as average wages only rose by 2.1% per year in the three months to July”, but that pensioners “can look forward to a 3% increase in the basic state pension next April”, as pensions rise in line with earnings growth under the triple-lock system.

ONS head of inflation Mike Prestwood told the BBC that: “Food prices and a range of transport costs helped to push up inflation in September. These effects were partly offset by clothing prices that rose less strongly than this time last year.”