UK inflation rate – Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH)

A Consumer Price Index measures changes in the price level of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

It is usually calculated and reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis and Statistics of a country on a monthly and annual basis. International organizations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report statistical figures like the Consumer Price Index for many of its member countries.

The CPI is a statistical estimate constructed using the prices of a sample of representative items whose prices are collected periodically. Sub-indices and sub-sub-indices are computed for different categories and sub-categories of goods and services, being combined to produce the overall index with weights reflecting their shares in the total of the consumer expenditures covered by the index. It is one of several price indices calculated by most national statistical agencies. The annual percentage change in a CPI is used as a measure of inflation. A CPI can be used to index (i.e. adjust for the effect of inflation) the real value of wages, salaries, and pensions; to regulate prices; and to deflate monetary magnitudes to show changes in real values. In most countries, the CPI, along with the population census, is one of the most closely watched national economic statistics.

The chart below shows the United Kingdom (UK) inflation rate since August 2009.

Source: UK Office for National Statistics, December 2023.
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