UK consumer price inflation reached a 41-year high in October driven by household energy and food prices, official data showed on Wednesday, ahead of the much-awaited budget announcement.
Consumer prices grew 11.1 percent on a yearly basis, following September's 10.1 percent increase. The rate was the highest since October 1981 and well exceeded economists' forecast of 10.7 percent. Despite the introduction of the government's Energy Price Guarantee, gas and electricity prices made the largest upward contribution to annual inflation. Food and non-alcoholic beverages also made a large upward contribution, with prices rising 16.2 percent.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.