UK prices: fuel and services lift September inflation
· BehindLines newsroom
Britain's September price figures, issued on 21 October by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show a faster annual rise. Consumer price inflation, measured by the CPI, reaches 3.5%, following August's 3.1%. The difference is 0.4 percentage points; it should not be read as the price increase over a single month.
Fuel's larger contribution
The ONS identifies transport, especially motor fuel, as the main contributor to the acceleration in the annual rate. Road fuel prices stand 29.8% above their level a year earlier, compared with a 23% annual increase in August. Associated Press rounds the new figure to 30%. The two accounts describe the same movement at different levels of precision.
Other purchases follow a different pattern. Food and non-alcoholic drink prices are 1.3% higher than a year earlier, with that rate unchanged. A national average therefore combines contrasting changes across purchases rather than measuring an identical bill for every household.
Services and underlying inflation
The House of Commons Library also highlights the pickup in services. Within the CPI, their annual increase moves to 3.7%, from 3.4%. The underlying measure excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco reaches 2.8%, against 2.6% previously. The picture thus extends beyond prices at filling stations.
A separate measure, CPIH, also covers owner-occupiers' housing costs and Council Tax. Its annual rate is 3.6%, compared with 3.3% in August. Because its coverage differs, this indicator needs to be distinguished from the CPI.
Past prices, no future decision
Comparing September directly with August, the CPI rises by 0.4%; in September 2025 it was virtually unchanged. This monthly calculation answers a different question from a comparison spanning twelve months.
Reuters says economists in its survey expected annual inflation of 3.4%. The outcome exceeds their estimate, but that estimate does not become a Bank of England decision. The observations concern September and were released on 21 October. They represent neither a measurement of prices on the 22nd nor an interest rate increase already decided.
Written with AI assistance, checked; sources cited.