Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation. Throughout this month, workers across various industry sectors were involved in industrial disputes, such as nurses, train drivers, and driving instructors. In 2024, the average salary for full-time workers in the UK was 37,430 British pounds a year, up from 34,963 in the previous year. Along with soaring food costs, high-energy bills have hit UK households hard, especially lower income ones that spend more of their earnings on housing costs. Between 2021 and 2023, inflation surged in the UK, reaching a 41-year-high of 11.1 percent in October 2022. Recent forecasts suggest that while the debt is eventually expected to start declining, this is based on falling government deficits in the next five years.
Monthly average daily temperatures in the United Kingdom 2015-2024
The UK’s high inflation, and cost of living crisis in 2022 had its origins in the COVID-19 pandemic. The cap, which limits what suppliers can charge consumers, reached 3,549 British pounds per year in October 2022, compared with 1,277 pounds a year earlier. High inflation is one of the main factors behind the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis in the UK, which, despite subsiding somewhat in 2024, is still impacting households going into 2025. This statistic is using original data from the Government Digital Service and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0
Which fast food chain has the most restaurants in the UK?
- Lastly, the monthly earnings of the top one percent in the UK was 15,887 pounds as of November 2024, far higher than even that of the average for the top five percent, who earned 7,641 pounds per month, while pay for the lowest 10 percent of earners was just 805 pounds per month.
- In the same month, the inflation rate for the Consumer Price Index was 3.6 percent, indicating that wages were rising faster than prices that month.
- Although inflation fell in subsequent months, it wasn’t until July 2023 that inflation fell below double digits, and as of late 2024, the RPI rate was still above three percent.
- This statistic is using original data from the Government Digital Service and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0
When inflation peaked at 11.2 percent in October 2022, for example, core inflation stood at just 6.5 percent. As of December 2024, this was 3.2 percent, slightly higher than the overall CPI rate, but more aligned with the overall figure than it was in 2022 and 2023. While the retail price index is still a popular method of calculating inflation, the consumer price index (CPI) is the current main measurement of inflation in the UK.
Food and energy prices, which were already high, increased further in 2022. After global daman game app energy prices spiraled that year, the UK’s energy price cap increased substantially. Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022.
Inflation in the UK
As of the most recent month, prices were rising fastest in the education sector, at 7.5percent, with prices increasing at the slowest rate in the clothing and footwear sector. In 2024, the annual inflation rate for the United Kingdom was 2.5 percent, with the average rate for 2025 predicted to rise to 3.5 percent, revised upwards from an earlier prediction. The inflation rate for the Retail Price Index (RPI) in the United Kingdom was 4.3 percent in October 2025, down from 4.5 percent in the previous month. The UK inflation rate was 3.6 percent in October 2025, down from 3.8 percent in the previous two months, which was the fastest rate of inflation since January 2024. As of December 2024, the CPI inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, while the CPIH rate was 3.5 percent. Although inflation fell in subsequent months, it wasn’t until July 2023 that inflation fell below double digits, and as of late 2024, the RPI rate was still above three percent.
This was followed by energy and food inflation skyrocketing after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. From late 2021 onwards, various factors converged to encourage a global acceleration of prices, leading to the ongoing inflation crisis. The UK has only recently recovered from a period of elevated inflation, which saw the CPI rate reach 9.1 percent in 2022, and 7.3 percent in 2023. After peaking at 251.7 percent shortly after the end of the Second World War, government debt in the UK gradually fell, before a sharp increase in the late 2000s at the time of the global financial crisis. Key data on the fast food and takeaway industry in the UK 2025 During the most recent period of high inflation, core inflation peaked at 7.1 percent in May 2023, and while taking longer to fall than the overall figure, has generally been declining since then.
High inflation falls to more typical levels by 2024
There also still exists a noticeable gender pay gap in the UK, which was seven percent for full-time workers in 2024, down from 7.5 percent in 2023. This statistic is using original data from the Office for National Statistics and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0. As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024. The war also disrupted global food markets, as both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of cereal crops.
What does the future hold for the UK’s fast food industry?
Between 1961 and 1990, temperatures in England averaged nine degrees Celsius, and from 2013 to 2022, average temperatures in the country had increased to 10.3 degrees Celsius. July 2018 saw an average of 8.7 daily sun hours in the United Kingdom. This month also experienced the highest monthly rainfall in the UK since before 2014, with England, Wales, and Scotland suffering widespread flooding.
Although the Retail Price Index is a commonly utilized inflation indicator, the UK also uses a newer method of calculating inflation, the Consumer Price Index. Many of the workers who took part in strikes were part of the UK’s public sector, which saw far weaker wage growth than that of the private sector throughout 2022. One of the main consequences of high inflation and low wage growth throughout 2022 and 2023 was an increase in industrial action in the UK.
Inflation
Less than a year after implementing cuts to Winter Fuel, the government performed a U-Turn on the issue, and will make it widely available by the winter of 2025. This spending was financed by 1.13 trillion pounds of revenue raised, and 151 billion pounds of borrowing.
Although the UK government can still borrow money in the future to finance its spending, the amount spent on debt interest has increased significantly recently. UK government debt is at its highest levels since the early 1960s, due to a significant increase in borrowing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leading types of takeaway food in the UK 2025
- As of December 2024, the CPI inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, while the CPIH rate was 3.5 percent.
- Despite an uptick in inflation in 2025, the inflation rate is expected to fall to 2.5 percent in 2026, and two percent between 2027 and 2029.
- Hitting fiscal targets, such as reducing the national debt, will require a careful balancing of the books from the current government, and the possibility for either spending cuts or tax rises.
- Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation.
Other statistics that may interest you UK government finances
CPI inflation rate in the UK 2025, by sector The two main drivers of price increases during this time were food and energy inflation, two of the main spending areas of UK households. Although inflation fell to more usual levels by 2024, prices in the UK had already increased by over 20 percent relative to the start of the crisis. Despite an uptick in inflation in 2025, the inflation rate is expected to fall to 2.5 percent in 2026, and two percent between 2027 and 2029. The account requires an annual contract and will renew after one year to the regular list price. Hitting fiscal targets, such as reducing the national debt, will require a careful balancing of the books from the current government, and the possibility for either spending cuts or tax rises.
Detailed statistics The use of one inflation measure over the other can therefore have a significant impact on people’s lives in the UK. The CPI, along with the CPIH (Consumer Price Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs) are usually preferred by the UK government, but the RPI is still used in certain instances.
Like the Retail Price Index, the Consumer Price Index inflation rate also reached a recent peak in October 2022. In London, the average annual salary was far higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds per year, compared with just 32,960 in North East England. In the three months to September 2025, average weekly earnings in the United Kingdom grew by 4.6 percent.
As of February 2025, the overall CPI inflation rate was 2.8 percent, although an uptick in inflation is expected later in the year, with a rate of 3.7 percent forecast for the third quarter of the year. This fall was largely due to slower price increases in key sectors such as energy, which drove a significant amount of the 2022 wave of inflation. In that month, prices were rising by 11.1 percent and did not fall below double figures until April 2023. This followed 2022, when RPI inflation reached a rate of 11.6 percent, by far the highest annual rate during this provided time period. Lastly, the monthly earnings of the top one percent in the UK was 15,887 pounds as of November 2024, far higher than even that of the average for the top five percent, who earned 7,641 pounds per month, while pay for the lowest 10 percent of earners was just 805 pounds per month. Due to this long period of high inflation, UK consumer prices have increased by over 20 percent in the last three years.