Inflation falls in August to 9.9% from 10.1% in July

Inflation fell slightly to 9.9% in August, down from 10.1% in July, the Office for National Statistics has said. Experts had expected the figure to be unchanged between the two months.

It means that the prices of everyday products are on average 9.9% higher than they were a year ago.

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The rate is still also way above the government's 2% target level.

The ONS said the biggest downward pressure on the inflation rate was the price of motor fuels, which has been falling in recent months.

It also said that electricity prices rose by 54.0% and gas prices by 95.7% in the 12 months to August 2022, while food prices increased at the fastest rate since 2008.

The 6.8% drop in fuel prices was the highest since between March and April 2020, the early days of the pandemic when oil prices briefly went negative on some markets.

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“The easing in the annual inflation rate in August 2022 reflected principally a fall in the price of motor fuels in the transport part of the index,” the ONS said.

“Smaller, partially offsetting, upward effects came from price rises for food and non-alcoholic beverages, miscellaneous goods and services, and clothing and footwear.”

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