In April 2023, the United Kingdom witnessed a significant easing of inflation, bringing relief to the economy. This decline in inflationary pressures was largely attributed to several key factors. Firstly, energy prices remained stable, alleviating the burden on consumers and businesses. Additionally, housing costs experienced a decrease, contributing to the overall easing of inflation. These factors combined to create a more favourable economic environment, where consumers could experience improved purchasing power and businesses could potentially invest in growth and expansion.
The easing of inflation in April 2023 in the UK marked a positive development for the country's economic stability and offered hope for sustained progress in the future.
The report summarised the main finding as below:
The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) rose by 7.8% in the 12 months to April 2023, down from 8.9% in March; on a monthly basis, CPIH rose by 1.2% in April 2023, compared with a rise of 2.1% in April 2022.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 8.7% in the 12 months to April 2023, down from 10.1% in March; on a monthly basis, CPI rose by 1.2% in April 2023, compared with a rise of 2.5% in April 2022.
Electricity and gas prices contributed 1.42 percentage points to the fall in annual inflation in April as last April’s rise dropped out of the annual comparison, but this component still contributed 1.01 percentage points to annual inflation.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices continued to rise in April and contributed to high annual inflation, however, the annual inflation rate of food and non-alcoholic beverages eased, from 19.2% in the year to March 2023, to 19.1% in the year to April 2023.
Core CPI (excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco) rose by 6.8% in the 12 months to April 2023, up from 6.2% in March, which is the highest rate since March 1992; the CPI goods annual rate eased from 12.8% to 10.0%, while the CPI services annual rate rose from 6.6% to 6.9%.
Source: ONS
Inflation Continues To Ease