What is the UK inflation rate and why is it so high?

The rate at which prices are rising fell to 6.8% in the year to July, down from 7.9% in June.

Food inflation on items like milk, bread and cereals has also come down, although remains high – at 14.9%.

Inflation is the increase in the price of something over time.

If a bottle of milk costs £1 but £1.05 a year later, then annual milk inflation is 5%.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) tracks the prices of hundreds of everyday items in an imaginary “basket of goods”.

The basket is constantly updated to reflect shopping trends, with the most recent changes adding frozen berries and removing alcopops.

Each month’s inflation figure shows how much these prices have risen since the same date last year.

You can calculate inflation in various ways, but the main “headline” measure is the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

“Core inflation” excludes the price of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco,

This measure was was 6.9% in July, unchanged from June which was the highest level since 1992.

The Bank of England considers this number as well as CPI when deciding whether to change interest rates.

Soaring food and energy bills helped drive inflation up.

This effect was compounded in the UK in February by a shortage of vegetables, which took food inflation to a 45-year high.

Alcohol prices in restaurants and pubs have also risen.

The Bank of England has a target to keep inflation at 2%, but the current rate is still well above that.

This makes borrowing more expensive, and can mean some people with mortgages see their monthly payments go up. Some saving rates also increase.

When people have less money to spend, they buy fewer things, reducing the demand for goods and slowing price rises.

Businesses also borrow less, making them less likely to create jobs, and may cut staff.

But when inflation is caused by factors such as global energy prices, action from the Bank of England may not be enough to slow it down.

This matches the rate of inflation, which means real wages stayed flat for the first time in two years, rather than falling behind.

However unions point out that many workers have received smaller pay increases, and there have been widespread strikes over pay.

The government has argued that big pay rises could push inflation higher because companies might increase prices as a result.

Lower inflation doesn’t mean prices fall. It just means they rise less quickly.

The Bank of England has predicted inflation will drop to 5% by the end of 2023, rather than the 4% it had been anticipating.

But he admitted that price inflation has been “more sticky than previously expected”.

Other countries have also been experiencing a cost-of-living squeeze.

Many of the reasons are the same – increased energy costs, shortages of goods and materials, and the fallout from Covid.