London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 08, 2026

UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high of 9.4% and ‘could hit 12% in October’

UK inflation hits fresh 40-year high of 9.4% and ‘could hit 12% in October’

May’s 9.1% figure exceeds analysts’ expectations, with some saying Bank’s 11% autumn forecast is low

The prospect of inflation hitting 12% this autumn is looming larger after dearer fuel and food pushed the official measure of the cost of living to a fresh 40-year high.

A one-month increase in petrol prices not seen since at least the late 1980s, coupled with across the board increases in food staples such as eggs, milk, cheese and vegetables sent Britain’s annual inflation rate up from 9.1% to 9.4% in June.

With the annual energy price cap predicted to rise from just under £2,000 to more than £3,000 in October, analysts warned there was worse to come.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics said there was some sign global price pressures were being replaced by higher domestically generated inflation.

“We still think inflation will rise to 12% in October and that interest rates will be raised from 1.25% to 3%, although it’s finely balanced whether they rise by 25bps or 50bps in August,” Dales said.

The Bank of England said last month it expected the annual inflation rate, which stood at 2.5% in June 2021 and has risen for nine months in a row, to peak at just over 11% in the autumn before falling sharply next year.

The City had been forecasting inflation would pick up to 9.3% after the price of unleaded petrol rose by about 20p a litre in June. Markets are expecting the Bank to respond to the highest inflation since 1982 by raising interest rates by either 0.25 or 0.5 percentage points next month. Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor said both would be on the table at the August meeting of its monetary policy committee.


Prices rose by 0.8% between May and June – the highest June increase since modern records began in 1988 – compared with a 0.5% jump in the same month a year earlier.

The ONS chief economist, Grant Fitzner, said: “Annual inflation again rose to stand at its highest rate for over 40 years. The increase was driven by rising fuel and food prices; these were only slightly offset by falling secondhand car prices.”

The UK’s statistical agency said the cost of motor fuels had risen by more than 42% in the year to June, with petrol and diesel hitting new highs last month. More expensive fuel was only partly offset by a drop in the price of secondhand cars.


Food was the other big factor behind the inflation rate rise, with particularly sharp increases in the cost of milk, eggs and cheese all contributing to a 1.2% increase between May and June and a 12-month rise of 9.8%.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank said the inflation rate for the poorest 10% of households was already running at 10.6% because they spent a higher proportion of their incomes on food and energy.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Families are under immense pressure as food and energy costs soar, and companies raise prices much faster than wages.”

Core inflation – which strips out food, energy, alcohol and tobacco – stood at 5.8% last month, down from 5.9% in the year to May.


Yet more inflationary pressure could be in the pipeline, according to separate ONS data for producer prices, which measures how much firms are paying for their fuel and raw material and the prices they charge their customers.

“The cost of both raw materials and goods leaving factories continued to rise, driven by higher metal and food prices respectively,” Fitzner said. “These increases saw raw materials post their highest annual increase on record, with manufactured goods at a 45-year high.”

The chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “Countries around the world are battling higher prices and I know how difficult that is for people right here in the UK, so we are working alongside the Bank of England to bear down on inflation.

“We’ve introduced £37bn-worth of help for households, including at least £1,200 for 8 million of the most vulnerable families and lifting over 2 million more of the lowest paid out of paying personal tax.”

His Labour counterpart, Rachel Reeves, said: “The cost of living crisis is leaving families more worried every day but all we get from the Tories is chaos, distraction and unfunded fantasy economics.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
Jet2 Reports Strong Summer Travel Demand as Bookings Rise Seven Percent
Prince Harry Loses High Court Privacy Case Against Daily Mail Publisher
British Universities Warn Against Potential European Union Tuition Fee Changes
Heal Fertility Clinic Investigated After Embryo Biopsy Sample Mix-Up
Resolution Foundation Warns Regional Income Divide Has Barely Improved Since 1997
British Markets Remain Cautious as Middle East Tensions Rise and Government Transition Nears
Andy Burnham Poised to Become United Kingdom Prime Minister in Expected Political Transition
Nigel Farage Resigns as Member of Parliament Ahead of By-Election Amid Funding Investigation
Trump Declares Iran Ceasefire Over After Renewed Attacks on United States Bases
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
UK Parliament Pushes for Greater Domestic Control Over Critical Technologies
UK Parliament Warns Trade Fair and Exhibition Industry Is Losing Global Competitiveness
Police Launch Murder Investigation After Mother and Two Children Found Dead Near Bedford
British Chambers of Commerce Survey Shows Business Confidence Falls to Post-Pandemic Low
UK Parliament Report Warns Britain Risks Falling Behind in Artificial Intelligence Sovereignty
Office for Budget Responsibility Warns United Kingdom Faces Long-Term Fiscal Pressures
Nigel Farage Resigns as Member of Parliament Amid Financial Scrutiny and Triggers By-Election
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
UK MPs Criticise Student Loan System as Potentially Mis-Sold to Millions of Borrowers
Policy Groups Propose Bank of England-Backed Solar Loan Scheme for Millions of Homes
UK Health Agency Issues Amber Heat Alerts Across Six Regions as Temperatures Rise
Royal Air Force F-35 Jets Conduct First High North Air Policing Missions From Aircraft Carrier
Major UK Companies Join Government Cybersecurity Pledge Amid Rising Digital Threats
UK Sanctions Russian Operatives Linked to Chemical Weapons Programmes and Poisoning Cases
UK Government Expands Free Breakfast Clubs and Limits School Uniform Costs
UK Water Companies Face Tougher Penalties Under New Environmental Enforcement Rules
UK Universities Warn Funding Cuts Could Damage Skills Pipeline and Economic Growth
NHS Expands Artificial Intelligence Tools to Help Reduce Patient Waiting Lists
NHS Ombudsman Criticises Failures in End-of-Life Communication and Patient Care
NHS Launches Nationwide Vaccination Drive After Rise in Measles Cases
UK Government Introduces New Limits on Foreign-Linked Political Donations
Thames Water Creditors Advance £10 Billion Rescue Plan to Prevent Potential Public Ownership
Andy Burnham Prepares Labour Leadership Platform as Party Faces Post-Starmer Transition
UK Met Office Issues Heatwave Alerts for London and Southern England
Keir Starmer Blocks Earlier World Cup Kick-Off Time for England Match Against Mexico
NHS Digital Transformation and Media Consolidation Highlight UK Policy Priorities
UK Government Pushes Digital Trade Rules to Cut Export Costs for Businesses
Bank of England Plans Leverage Rule Changes to Support Government Bond Market
UK Police Operation Targets Organised Immigration Crime Networks With Hundreds of Arrests
Yvette Cooper Calls for Global AI Rules to Prevent Security Risks
NHS Begins Major AI Expansion Through £10 Billion Digital Investment Programme
×