UK consumer price growth unexpectedly accelerated in July

According to the report from Office for National Statistics, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 2.1% in July 2019, increasing from 2.0% in June 2019. Economists had expected a 1.9% increase

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) 12-month inflation rate was 2.0% in July 2019, increasing from 1.9% in June 2019.

In July 2019, the largest upward contribution to the CPIH 12-month rate continues to come from housing and household services, with prices rising by 1.9% on the year. Housing and household services has provided the largest contribution for the last nine months.

Within this group (which contributed 0.58 percentage points to the overall rate), the largest contributions were from owner occupiers’ housing costs (a 0.20 percentage point contribution), electricity, gas and other fuels (a 0.18 percentage point contribution), and Council Tax and Rates (a 0.12 percentage point contribution).

There were also large upward contributions to the CPIH 12-month rate from recreation and culture, and restaurants and hotels, where prices rose in the year to July 2019 by 2.4% and 3.1%, respectively.

Clothing and footwear also produced an upward contribution to the CPIH 12-month rate, reflecting that prices fell between June and July 2019 by less than a year ago. Until July, the contribution from this category had been negative for the last 10 months. This means that for July 2019, all CPIH broad groups (also known as divisions) produced an upward contribution to the overall 12-month rate.