UK consumer price growth slowed in August - ONS

According to the report from Office for National Statistics, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate was 0.2% in August 2020, down from 1.0% in July. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged.

The Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) 12-month inflation rate was 0.5% in August 2020, down from 1.1% in July 2020.

The largest contribution to the CPIH 12-month inflation rate in August 2020 came from recreation and culture (0.35 percentage points).

Falling prices in restaurants and cafes, arising from the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, resulted in the largest downward contribution (0.44 percentage points) to the change in the CPIH 12-month inflation rate between July and August 2020.

Other smaller downward contributions came from falling air fares and clothing prices rising by less between July and August 2020 than between the same two months a year ago.

The largest, partially offsetting, upward contributions came from games, toys and hobbies, accommodation services, road transport services and second-hand cars.

As the restrictions caused by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have been eased, the number of CPIH items that were unavailable to UK consumers in August has reduced to eight, these account for 1.1% of the CPIH basket by weight and made a small downward contribution of 0.01 percentage points to the change in the CPIH 12-month rate; the number of unavailable items is down from 12 for July and a high of 90 for April; for August, we have collected a weighted total of 86.9% of comparable coverage collected previously (excluding unavailable items).